Mirror Image, My Mirror Opposite
by Mel Writer
Summary: The twins have had a rough go at things but so long as they have each other, nothing can stop them. Not even a hit-man at their door, telling them that they will both be trained for the same position that only one twin can have, and that the other may have to die to make that happen. Twincest and smart Tsuna! Image not mine. Slow updates, but they will happen!
1. Chapter 1

Mirror Image, My Mirror Opposite

Warning: Tsuna x Natsu. Yes this is twin-cest, reader beware. Only small kisses, hand-holding, cuddles and bed-sharing, nothing more extreme. They are only middle-schoolers, just discovering how they feel, while attempting to rationalize it. Oh, and character death.

The first chapter will be Nana-centric.

I do not own KHR.

Chapter 1, The Beginning Of The End

* * *

It really was a beautiful day. The birds, singing their most lovely songs, flew through the clearest sky Namimori had had that year. The leaves in the trees were changing their colour, dying in red, yellow and brown. From her seat on the couch, Nana watched her boys, Natsu and his slightly smaller twin brother Tsuna, playing in the front yard; a harmless game of tag, one she almost wished she could join. She tried to smile at the sight of them, but the man next to her was preventing that in the worst of ways.

"Nana? Please say _something_." The destroyer of her world asked in a voice that seemed almost pleading; a voice that farther shoved her heart through a wood-chipper. _'Son of a bitch.'_ she snarled in her head.

Never one to let her volcanic rage show on her face or in her voice, she continued to watch her precious children through the sliding glass door. "They turn 6 today."

"I know."

There was no emotion in those words, no sign of regret or remorse. Nothing.

She felt a snarl unfurl on her lips, "Then why... why, Iemitsu, are you doing this to us?" still, Nana refused to look in the blond's direction.

"I... Look, it's complicated, alright? I don't have much of a choice."

" **Bullshit."** she swore. Nana shut down the mild-mannered wife inside her that told her to apologize for her wording, and stared straight into her soon-to-be ex-husbands eyes. After a second, he looked away.

"Coward. You can't even face your wife while you ask her to sign divorce papers." the man seemed to slink away, sinking deeper into the couch. It was then that she noticed Tsuna look over at her, stopping in his tracks and causing Natsu to run into his back. They both toppled down to the ground, and popped up a second later, apparently more concerned by Nana's lack of smile than by falling down. So Nana smiled the most plastic smile she had ever faked and waved to her boys, letting them know that she was fine and to go back to playing.

"There's another woman, isn't there." it was not a question.

"...Yes. She's pregnant, with my child. I can't just abandon them!"

"Then what do you call what you're doing to Tsunayoshi and Natsume?" Fear sparked in her chest as a thought crossed her mind and she let go of her emotions for just a second. "You can not take them from me! They're all I have left! They're _my boys!_ " she screeched, jumping from the couch and staring at Iemitsu's motionless form. The man heaved a sigh, saying, again without a trace of emotion,

"I'm not going to take them from you. If you had even read the paper, then you'd know that. You're getting the house, mortgage-free, full custody of the boys, and a hefty sum of money every month until they turn 18. Now sign the papers and let me leave..."

"Mama?" came a small voice behind Nana, and she schooled her facile features to try to look normal before attempting to talk correctly. "Tsuna, go back outside and keep playing with your brother." before she had finished speaking, Iemitsu stood up and walked around Nana, avoiding so much as even looking at the woman who somehow still loved him.

"Boys, actually, I'd like to talk to you about something while your mother signs some papers."

With just those words, he'd put her on the spot. Not that there was much of a choice anyway. If he didn't want to stay with Nana, then she had no right to stop him. With that defeated thought, she sat back down on the couch, smoothing her skirt and adjusting her blouse. She was buying useless time. As she picked up the pen that would change her life forever, she overheard Iemitsu's explanation of why he wasn't going to be back.

"Listen, I'm not going to be back for another long while."

"Why?" ever the innocent one, Natsu asked his question with a small tilt to his head.

"Well, Natsu, your mother and I, we can't agree on something, and she's asked me not to come home. So I'm going back to work and I may not be allowed to come back at all..." the devil replied, feigning innocence and sadness. Natsu looked ready to cry and Nana caught the look on his face as he turned to face her for a moment, before turning back to Iemitsu.

"R-really? Why?"

He was pinning this on _her_. He was doing worse than taking the boys from her, he was going to make her the bad guy in all this, the boys would come to resent her for taking away their father from them! Nana knew that at this point, she should be feeling that same rage from before bubbling up in her chest again, but she felt almost numb. The pen shook in her hand and tears she hadn't wanted to cry yet spilled down her face. He was going to take her boys from her, just not physically.

"Don't lie." those simple words felt like they came from her subconscious, and for a horrifying second, she thought she had said them. But they were followed by Iemitsu's startled voice,

"What was that, Tsuna?"

"I said, 'Don't lie.'"

"But I'm not lying; why would I lie about why I can't see my boys again?"

"Because you made mama cry. You're the bad guy, not mama." apparently taking his brother's words as gospel, Natsu shot up, running from this father's side to settle behind Tsuna, glaring accusingly at Iemitsu.

"What? What are you talking about, Tsuna?" there was something similar to fear in his voice then, and Nana felt a smug sort of pride in her young son. She hated to think that one son was better than the other, but while Natsu was much more athletic and showed a love for sports that Tsuna just didn't have, Tsuna was showing signs of an intellect far beyond his years. She honestly wasn't all that surprised her genius son had called the man out on his lie. She was not, however, prepared for what came out of his mouth next.

"I'm talking about those papers _you_ want mom to sign. And I heard what you were saying to mom earlier. You're breaking up our family because you couldn't keep it in your pants!" with his finger pointed accusingly at his father and a straight-faced expression, Tsuna looked like the picture of childhood innocence. His words however...

Nana choked on her own laughter, and Natsu shot up to look after her, while Iemitsu looked shocked at Tsuna's words.

"How did you hear that?! The door was closed!... when did it open anyway?"

"So you admit it? That you were cheating on mom!" Nana looked up just in time to see an anger in Iemitsu's eyes that she hadn't seen in a long, long while. The only other time had been when he had beaten up some of her bullies in high school... only now that look was being directed at Tsuna. All humour drained from her face and Nana hurriedly signed the papers, standing up just as Iemitsu said very loudly and very firmly,

" **That is none of your business, young man."** Tsuna flinched back and Nana jumped half way across the floor of the living room. Now, Nana was fairly sure that Iemitsu would never even consider hitting Tsuna, or any child, really, but there was no way in hell she was going to take that chance. Not when he had already broken his promise to never leave her.

"Here." she said, coming up behind them. "Take your papers and leave my porch." tears sprung in Tsuna's eyes and he joined his brother behind Nana's legs. Iemitsu turned his cold eyes to Nana, grabbing the paper held out to him and looking down at the boys. His eyes smoldered and finally regret crossed them, before he hopped of the porch and walked away. He had left all his things at the hotel, so there was nothing for him to get.

The boys looked on in an blind stare, Nana figured they were trying to understand why their father had left them. The now single mother of two ushered her children into the kitchen, closing and locking the sliding glass door behind them. No matter how fucked up their birthday was now, there was still a cake to eat, and two very wonderful young boys to celebrate.

* * *

After almost a week, Nana decided to check her finances, to see just how much this 'hefty sum of money' was Iemitsu was talking about, and if he'd really send it. She bit her lip, looking at the computer screen, fear gripping her heart and mind again.

20,000 yen. *

Just a measly 20,000 yen, for all of the house hold expenses... Nana almost cried. She'd need to get a job, just to keep them afloat.

A little pop-up window in the corner of her screen let her know that she had an e-mail waiting for her. Clicking the window brought her to another site in another tab, and she clicked the newest e-mail there. It was from Iemitsu.

'Nana,

I'm sure you've seen the money by now. Half of that is Tsuna's, the other half is Natsu's. Good luck.'

That was it. _Nothing else_. He expected her to raise two children on so little money, so that she'd have to get a job? This time, she didn't hold back.

Nana cried then, in the office in her house, in the middle of the night, all alone.

The next morning, she started looking up local job listings.

* * *

Fixing her blouse Nana stared the building down, watching the people inside with a warring interest and determination. This was her 8th interview in 2 weeks, and she'd be damned to get it. The hydro bill was dew in just over a week, and if she had no money by then, they'd bill her a late fee. Jobless and near penny-less, it had been almost a month and a half since that bastard ruined her life. And no, she was not going to let her boy's go without heat this winter.

Straightening her back and taking a deep breath, Nana fixed her expression to 'happy and determined' and walked into the building.

* * *

Setting her purse on the kitchen counter, Nana all but dropped into a kitchen chair. She heaved a sigh of exhaustion and relief, thankful that she finally got a job! It wasn't much of one, a cash register employee at a small convenience corner store. But it paid weekly, and she needed all she could get. Part-time, minimum wage. She sighed thinking about how she'd need to get a second one in no time, and a glace at the clock told her it was time to start the stew for dinner and then go pick up the boys from school. They were 6 after all. Maybe next year they could walk themselves home. She got up with as much pep as she could to start dinner.

* * *

"Merry Christmas, mom!" came the wake-up call from Tsuna and Natsu. They were 8 now, 2 years after their struggles started, walking themselves to and from school and taking on a lot of the house-hold chores. It was a rare day off, one that she had both earned and begged for, since it was Christmas day, and she needed to be with the boys. Nana sat up and gave a large yawn and stretched her arms high above her head, a deep set smile of her face. She lowered her arms to stretch them in front of her, when a mischievous idea popped into her head.

As the petite woman leaned forward to crack her back, she snagged up her kids, dragging them up onto the bed and tickling them senseless. They all fell back and let out peals of laughter.

"My! What a wonderful way to wake up! Merry Christmas to you too, Tsu-kun! Na-kun!" She said, happily giving each boy a kiss on the forehead. "Now, how about you two get off my bed and out of my room so I can get dressed and make some breakfast, yeah?"

"OK!" Natsu chirped and jumped off the bed, turning and waiting for his brother to join him. Tsuna grinned as he jumped off, saying lightly, "But you don't have to get breakfast ready mama."

"Oh? I don't? How come?"

"'Cause, Tsuna already made breakfast!" Natsu sang out, but before Nana could give any words of praise to the boys Tsuna spoke up, a pout on his lips.

"Natsu! That was a surprise!"

Looking like he had just accidentally stepped on a kitten's tail, Natsu rushed to Tsuna's side, saying things like "I'm sorry! I didn't know!" and "Please let me make it up to you!" and "How can I fix it?" and, with a nudge from Tsuna (Read: turned around to give a fake sob) Natsu cried out a "Please don't cry!"

Nana saw the small, barely there smile on Natsu's lips though, and knew that the whole show was just that, a show. She laughed. She couldn't help it! Her boys were just so adorable! She had a good, long laugh, knowing her boys were watching her with large smiles on their faces.

The petite mother calmed down after another moment before standing and foregoing the day clothes, choosing instead to go like her boys, in her pajama's. She walked out of her bedroom, hand in hand with Tsuna and Natsu, and was greeted by the blissful aroma of pancakes and bacon and... mini sausages? At first Nana wasn't sure what to say about the smell, so she just followed her nose to the kitchen, where to her great surprise, sat a breakfast made for kings. More than just pancakes, there were waffles, bacon, sausages, fresh cut fruit, french toast, and it all sat, ready to be eaten on the table, with plates and forks and knives.

"Oh my gosh, Tsuna what did you do? How did you get all this stuff?" she gasped out, her hands letting go of Tsuna's and Natsu's and raising to her face. She looked down at her bright little boy and watched as he smugly pretended to buffer his nails on his shirt and let out a nonchalant little "I have my ways." His answer earned him a raised eye brow and a sceptic "Tsunayoshi...". Tsuna responded with a bright, innocent smile and pure wide eyes.

Nana knew it was pointless to try any harder, Tsuna wouldn't crack. So her gaze shifter to Natsu and raised her eye brow again. Natsu was much easier to crack open; the boy was pretty much an open book. She didn't need to say his name, and mentally counted to 5.

The poor boy broke by 3.

"OK! OK! When grandma and grandpa came by to visit yesterday while you were at work, Tsuna convinced them to get the stuff as our Christmas gift this year!" the 8-year-old cried, clinging to her pants like a life line. "Just please stop with the look!" Nana kept a poker face on, despite laughing on the inside, and turned back to Tsuna, watching as said child just slowly shook his head at his brother, a small, real pout on his lips. She broke down and gave a small laugh.

"Alright then." she said, "Then I only have one more question, Tsuna?"

"Hm?"

"How did you cook this?"

"...I have my ways?"

* * *

30 minutes, and 3 full tummies later found the family beginning to pack up left overs and clean up the dishes from the table. Another 15 minutes and dishes were all done and put away, and Tsuna led the others into the living room, a look of pure glee in his eyes. It shocked Nana a little, as she had not seen that look on his face for a while. (And while it had broken her heart to not see that joy she had loved watching, she didn't know what she could do about it.)

About halfway to the main room, and Natsu seemed to clue in on Tsuna's joy and began skipping, humming and smiling and it honestly unnerved Nana a little. Happy because it was Christmas? Yes, she could see that. But this happy seemed a little excessive. She shrugged it off though. They were happy and that was all that mattered. Probably...

Tsuna came to a halt next to the Christmas tree, and waited semi-patently for his brother to get closer, and Nana watched as Natsu crouched to let Tsuna on his back and their mother's heart jumped into her throat when Natsu stood straight with his (slightly smaller) brother on his back and wobbled.

"What are you two doing?! Sawada Tsunayoshi, you get down right now, before you fall and hurt yourself and your brother!"

Tsuna hopped down off his brother, laughing and clutching a bright red envelope in his hands. Together with Natsu, he turned to their mother and they said in perfect union,

"Merry Christmas, mama!" They trotted over to Nana and pulled on her sleeves until she plopped down on the couch. Again they sang together "Open it! Open it!" With the danger of both her babies hurting themselves all but gone from her mind, she smiled and said that she would, _after_ Tsuna and Natsu opened theirs. With a small laugh of their own, the boys complied, running over to the tree to get their gifts while Nana moved the coffee table out of the way. She got on the floor with them and made her self comfortable with a couch cushion underneath her.

"Look Tsuna!"

"Look Natsu!"

Nana hid a small smile behind her hand when the boys shared their joy with each other, swapping presents to have a better look at each others' gifts'. Natsu had been begging for this game for a few months now, ever since it came out back in August. And Nana knew that the book she got Tsuna for their birthday wouldn't last him much longer than November, so this time, Nana had splurged and gotten him one really big book. Both boys looked eager to begin reading/playing but somehow held back.

Knowing what the boys were waiting for, Nana smiled and hum'ed "Now, what should we do? We've got the whole day ahead of us. Shall we... play Natsu's new game? Or... go for a walk? Or...-"

"-Or, you could open your present and then you'll know exactly what you'll be doing today!" Natsu exclaimed excitedly. Tsuna slumped his shoulders in defeat, once again shaking his head at his brother's antics. A little confused, Nana opened the envelope, and found inside a wonderful gift that had tears falling down her cheeks.

* * *

Large, hot hands worked down her back and shoulders, caressing her bare skin and rubbing knots out of her muscles. A sigh of pleasure left her throat and she bit into her lower lip.

"Ah~ yeah... Right there."

It had been years, so many years, since Nana had been touched like this. Too long in her opinion.

"Does that feel good? You're muscles are so tense. When was the last time you did this?" the man said, his voice deep, almost seductive. His fingers worked over the small brunette woman and Nana held back a startled gasp as he pushed into her a little harder than she expected.

She smiled, "It's been a while, I admit. But I've always loved coming to the spa. Now I remember why~..."

Her masseuse smiled. "Well, I'm glad you like it here. With all these knots in your back, I'm guessing you work a lot? When was your last day off?"

"Christmas."

"Really? That long ago? That was almost a month ago!"

"Well, working two jobs to make ends meet does that to a person."

"Wow..."

"Yeah, but I have the best kids in the world! Last Christmas, my boys, twins, asked for an allowance. I wasn't sure if I could give them all that much, but they worked so hard with chores and homework, that I caved. And without my knowing, they used that allowance over the year to get me this day off today!"

"They sound like wonderful kids, how old are they?"

"Eight years old. They're so responsible, mama is so proud of them!"

He laughed, saying, "Well, I'm going to start the hot-rocks on your back now, and then start working your legs. In about 10 or so minutes, another masseuse will be coming in and he'll be professionally cracking your back. Sound good?"

"Sounds _wonderful_."

He laughed again.

* * *

Over the next two years, Nana's life started to get a little easier. Financially, she could breath again. While she had lost one of her part-time jobs (someone blamed Nana for their own mistake, and she was fired for it.) the other turned into much more than she had thought it would. Her job as a CSR in the small convenience store turned into a promotion into the store manager. The title came with a pay raise and full-time hours. Barring emergencies, she never had to work on the weekend, and her shift was over at 4 in the afternoon, so she was almost always home in time to cook dinner.

Her boys would send her off to work, and ever since Natsu had joined the basketball team, Tsuna had greeted her when she got home alone. And Tsuna... oh that boy had all the chores done, on his own, everyday. She had no idea how he did it and managed to go to school too, but everything from the laundry to vacuuming and back again was done perfectly!

It was a normal Monday morning, just like any other, when she left home in the morning to go to work. She kissed Natsu's forehead, then Tsuna's, and walked off, waving at her sleepy-headed boys. About halfway through the day, however, Nana felt something was... off. Perhaps not _wrong_ , but something felt out of place in her body. Maybe 10 minutes later Nana felt a cold sweat coming on and breathing became a little difficult. She felt like she was almost floating while her body felt like it was lined with lead. It made standing a hard task but she managed it and walked the 3 steps out of her office and over to her employee. Just as she walked over to the young 19-year-old, Nana collapsed, the last thing she could hear was her name being shouted.

"Nana-san? Nana-san!"

* * *

It was a beautiful late spring day, one that neither Tsuna nor Natsu cared about. It had been almost 3 weeks since their mother's death, 2 weeks since the funeral, and a week and 5 days since they had been kicked out of the house they grew up in. As it turned out, the house didn't go right to Tsuna or Natsu when Nana died, no, it went back to Iemitsu. And he decided to sell it. Without telling either brother. Their "Father" had given them their choice of furniture to be brought to their new apartment, so long as said furniture was gone within 3 hours of their being kicked out.

The ( _bastard, son of a bitch, lying sack of shit_ ) man came down for the funeral, deciding a Japanese vacation was just what his new family needed. So he brought with him his new wife and their 5 year old son, Giotto. Tsuna had been wondering just what the man was doing there, when he overheard the man and his wife arguing in Italian, unaware that Tsuna understood them.

" _We are not bringing your whore-ex's kids back with us to Italy. What if they corrupt my baby?"_ she snarled, practically seething at the apparent thought of Tsuna and Natsu going to Italy with them. Though Tsuna didn't agree with her reason, he agreed with her on not wanting to go to Italy.

" _I wouldn't dream of it."_ Was the ass-hats response. _"It's just that they are my children too, even if I never loved their mother, I need to do something."_

" _Then, like, give them money. That should shut them up."_

" _I was thinking a credit card and a small apartment here in Namimori. I am going to sell the house here, maybe I'll just hand them the money from the sale? Make that the limit for the credit card."_

" _Alright, do whatever. I don't care. So long as they aren't coming back with us."_ Here, she literally stuck her nose up in the air, as if the thought was below her. Iemitsu pulled her out the door and in for a kiss and Tsuna was glad he couldn't see them anymore. He needed time to process what he had heard. How could he say those things, or do that to them? At their mother's funeral, no less?

A small sob just off to his side brought Tsuna out of his memory and back to the present. He looked over at his brother, sitting on the couch that they had managed to snag before Iemitsu trashed most of the house. With the help of their grand parents, Tsuna nabbed the kitchen table and chairs, most of the kitchen utensils, his bed (Natsu's and their mother's had already been taken to the dump, much to Tsuna's annoyance), only half of their combined clothes (thankfully that included their school uniforms), the coffee table and the T.V. Nothing else. All of Natsu's games, all of Tsuna's books, and most importantly, all the pictures the twins had with their mother. Gone.

If not for their grand parents giving the boy's copies of the pictures they had of the three, there really wouldn't be anything left of them. That low-life had really taken it all, and just handed them a credit card. Tsuna had held back all the insults he had wanted to shout at the two, all the mean things he had inside him that begged to come out. Instead, Tsuna said his thanks in Italian, discretely letting them know that he had known what they had been talking about.

Tsuna sat on the couch and pulled Natsu into his arms. They had been through too much in the past month, and they had always been close. They were alone now anyway. Who cared if they were a little closer than 'normal' twins? They needed each other now more than ever before.

Tsuna placed a kiss in his brother's hair and Natsu curled in on himself, toppling them both over on the couch, using Tsuna as basically a body pillow.

"Tsuna... You're all I have left. You wont leave me... will you?" Natsu looked up into Tsuna's eyes, and begged him to never leave. Tsuna gave a small, sad smile and said,

"I'll never, ever leave you, if you never ever leave me."

Natsu nodded and rubbed his face farther into Tsuna's chest, trying to stop his endless tears. The twins fell asleep like that, one brother comforting the other, arms secured around each other and trusting that, so long as they had each other, they'd never be alone.

* * *

*20,000 yen is equal to approx. 247.48 Canadian dollars, as of July 16, 2016.

So? How was it? Was it ok? Horrifying? Sad? I'm not too sure about how it ended... almost felt like more needed to be added...

-Mel Writer.


	2. Chapter 2

Mirror Image, My Mirror Opposite.

Warning:27/72 Tsuna/Natsu twin-cest.

OK, so the flow of this chapter lead to a different scenario than the summery said, so here's the new summery: The twins have had a rough go at things, from their father abandoning them, to their childhood tragedy. But so long as they have each other, nothing can stop them. Not even a hit-man at their door, telling them that they will both be trained for the same position that only one twin can have, and that the other may have to die to make that happen. Twincest and Hacker Tsuna! Image not mine

Here's the next chapter! Smaller chapter, I know. But it fit to end the chapter there.

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR

* * *

Timoteo had always been a man of integrity, poise, and mercy to all his allies. He's always been known as a man who was ruthless toward enemy's of the Family and unforgiving to those whom would turn their backs on their own loved ones, be it Family or family. Never once had he misjudged any of his close friends as bad as he had Iemitsu. While divorce wasn't uncommon, to flat out abandon his former family as this man had...

The Nono shook his head and looked up just as the doors opened to let in his invited guests. Timoteo's favourite contract killer/teacher and personal friend, Reborn, and the very man the leader of the Vongola had misjudged so horribly, Iemitsu. And just behind the tall blond was a small black haired child, with pale skin and smouldering dark green eyes.

"Ah!" the ageing man greeted, standing from his seat behind the large mahogany desk to walk around to meet the others at the couches. "Reborn, It's been a while, how have you been, my friend?"

"I'm well, Nono, and yourself?"

"I am doing wonderful for my old age. Why just last week, I was sparring with one of the new recruits. It was quite exhilarating! He was a brute of a young man, very ambitious; it was fun making him eat his words and cry at the same time!"

They all shared a laugh, the young child grinning if only because everyone else was, and Nono directed them all over to the couches and made a gesture for the maid standing off to the side.

"Espresso, I presume?" He asked, looking between Iemitsu and Reborn. Receiving nods, the elderly man turned his attention to the young child. His intuition told him this was Iemitsu's youngest, Giotto, though really he didn't need intuition for that conclusion. Why else would Iemitsu bring a child with him, if the child wasn't his son? "How about you? What would you like to drink?"

With wide, startled eyes, the child turned to his father and asked him, "Can I get chocolate milk?" Iemitsu nodded and Nono turned to the maid on stand-by and said, "Three espressos and a chocolate milk." The young girl, a 20-something little blond thing, bowed politely and exited the office to fetch the drinks.

"So, what did this new recruit say to offend you so much, you just had to fight him?" Reborn asked, an air of amused curiosity floating about him.

"Well," Nono began, "This young man apparently didn't know who he was talking with when he asked me to bring him a drink. He mistook _me_ for one of the help." Unable to contain his own amusement at the memory, the old don laughed outright and continued, "Oh, his expression when he found out that I was his new leader, and then, just to rub it in and make sure he understood who I was, I brought him down to the training area and fought him right there, in front of the rest of the new recruits. Oh it was so much fun, I almost wish I could do that all the time! Unfortunately, Coyote reminded me very verbally about how reckless that was, and that I was lucky that my knees held out that long." with a loud sigh, he heaved, his expression turning solemn, "And equally unfortunately, I agree. My knees have ached since I walked down from the platform."

He shook his head just as the young maid from earlier returned with a tray full of drinks. After setting the drinks on the coffee table, the young maid shuffled her way back out of the room with another polite bow. Straightening in his seat and smiling like the world was his own playground, the young boy reached for his drink and happily began consuming the beverage. Timoteo felt an odd sensation, a recognizable one, like his intuition was trying to tell him something...

"Now, Nono, what exactly have you called us here today for? As much as I love hearing about your fun with the new recruits." Reborn said.

Timoteo smiled again, a grandfatherly smile he gave to most everyone he knew, and said kindly, "Always straight to the point, aren't you?"

Reborn gave a small sip of his espresso and a shrug of his shoulders as his response. The elderly man chuckled and just as he was about to respond to the infant hit-man's question, the young boy piped up, confirming the mafia Don's suspicions on the boy's identity.

"Hey papa? You told me that I have to be very well mannered today, no matter what. So why do I have to be good, when that little boy doesn't? He's a lot younger than me, isn't he?"

"Not now, Giotto."

"But papa! It's not fair!"

"Giotto..." Iemitsu sighed out, before deciding on just answering on his son's question to shut him up. "Reborn is a lot older than he looks. And a whole lot stronger too, so you best behave for him too." though this seemed to only confuse the child farther, he simply huffed and sat straighter again, taking up his drink and taking another sip with the air of a child about to have a temper tantrum.

"Am I to assume this is your youngest son? With your wife... Veronica, was it?"

"Yes, he is. He's a good boy, most days."

"So back to my earlier question; why have you called us in?" Reborn asked again, before his eyes seemed to catch onto an idea. "Is it time to train the tenth?"

"Clever as always, you are right."

Iemitsu smiled and interjected, "That's what I figured we would be talking about, so today I brought with me my son, so he could meet his future teacher. Giotto, introduce yourself." the blond nodded down to his son, who nodded back and looked straight into Timoteo's eyes.

"My name is Giotto, and I'm 7 years old. And Papa says that I'll take over after you, sir, is that true?" his eyes blazed with an almost green passion, one Timoteo had seen multiple times before. The old man's eyes widened with surprise, the wrinkles around them stretching out, as he realized what his intuition was telling him. He looked Iemitsu and asked,

"My friend, does your wife wield a Flame as well?"

"Yes? She has a rather powerful Lightening Flame." Iemitsu was growing confused, but decided to trust that his old friend had a point, and ultimately asked just that. "What are you getting at?"

"Just a moment, let me fetch something." with a long held sigh he stood up... or tried to. His knees really were failing him, as he found them suddenly not working and he slumped back into the couch. The old, proud man blinked once, before scowling and mumbling out an "Oh how I hate this old body of mine." and he tried again, this time leaning heavily on his cane. He stood upright, heaved a "There we go." and waked over to his large desk, pulling out a drawer and rummaging around in it. Walking back, he walked up to young Giotto and stuck out his hand.

"Let me see your hand." he all but ordered. Curious, the black-haired child stuck out his small, pale hand palm up, as if waiting to receive something. Despite the protest in his knees, Timoteo knelled down and wrapped his hands around the smaller boy's, slipping a large ring onto the boy's thumb. Once down on the ground all the way, so he wasn't hurting his back leaning over the boy, he asked,

"What is your favourite memory?"

Giotto scrunched his eye-brows together and tilted his head. "What do you mean? Like... when mama, papa and I went to the beach in Japan?"

"Sure! Tell me about that; did you have fun? What was your favourite thing about it?"

Excitement lit the boy's eyes, "It was so much fun! We took a plain ride there and back, and there was a pool in the hotel, that you could see the ocean from! And! And then papa took us down to see his old home-town for a day, but that part wasn't very fun. Everyone was sad, and I don't know why. But then Papa took us back to the hotel and we had this biiiiig dinner!" Giotto laughed and spread his hand wide, showing just how big he thought the dinner was, and pulled his hand from Timoteo's.

There was a moment of shock as the ring was reviled, and Iemitsu was the first to recover. "What the hell is this!?" The young boy flinched, almost out of fear rather than the shock of a sudden loud voice, while Timoteo calmly ignored the shout and thanked the young boy for his story, before staggering back to his own seat, once again mentally cursing his old body.

Settling into his seat again, he watched the child eagerly show his new ring; said ring was sputtering a strong, green, sparking Lightening Flame. "Look Papa! It's just like mama's! It's so pretty!"

Just as Timoteo was about to explain the ring, Iemitsu grabbed said object and all but tore it from his son's hand. "Go wait in the hall." he growled out and it only took a second for all the joy in the boy's eyes that he had just recovered to be entirely replaced by fear and he ran for the door, pulling as hard as he could to open it. The maid on the outside must have noticed his struggle and helped him out, pushing it open from her end and closing it behind them.

"Now that was a little on the harsh side, don't you think? Iemitsu, scaring your boy like that, and sending him away, just because he has Lightening Flames instead of Sky Flames."

"What is this ring? Nono, what was _that_?"

"The ring was a gift from an old, old friend of mine. He called it a magic ring, and he said it reflected a person's aura, and made it glow with that colour. I tried it on and it lit up in the most beautiful of Sky Flames. He was startled, and rightly so really, he'd never seen a person's Flames. So I explained to him what they were, and he told me to keep the ring." he paused and took the ring back from the distraught blond and slipped it on his own finger, watching with a fond eye at the dancing lights it produced.

"So the flame changes depending on the wearer? That's some powerful ring." Reborn hummed. Nono nodded, and passed the ring over to the hit-man. Reborn almost grumbled as the ring fit over 4 whole fingers on his hand, and the killer thought snidely that if he really tried, it could probably make a bracelet. But he focused and lit the ring with his Sun Flames, watching the fire erupt from the ring in a beautiful and stunning dance.

"That still doesn't explain how my son doesn't have Sky Flames." Iemitsu was very obviously trying his best to remain calm, and the tension was heard in his voice.

"Oh, but it does, Iemitsu." Reborn said. He looked back to his host, "Would you mind if I explained this part?"

"No by all means, my friend, go ahead. I myself have some trouble understanding Flame genetics."

"Flame genetics?" narrowing his eyes slightly, Iemitsu wasn't sure of that phrase. To him, it almost sounded fake.

"Yes, Flame genetics." Reborn began, donning a teaching voice and an air of someone explaining something simple to a child perhaps the same as young Giotto's age. "You know that Flames themselves are nothing if not markers in our DNA; think of them like recessive genes. Like blond hair verses black hair. The gene for the dark hair is more prominent than the gene for lighter hair. Flames are the same. If one parent had a gene for a strong Cloud Flame and the other had a gene for a weak Mist Flame, the offspring will then have a marker for Cloud Flames and Mist Flames, but they will not necessarily be able to produce either said Flame.

"Now, in the case of Giotto out in the hall, his father has strong Sky Flames and his mother has strong Lightening Flames. Sky Flames are even more recessive than the rest of the Flames. If there is more than one marker for a Flame in a person's DNA, then that person will either be able to wield more than one Flame, or, if one of said Flames is Sky, then they'll shown an affinity for the other Flames present."

"But not for Sky."

"But not for Sky." Reborn nodded.

"So because his mother has strong Lightening Flames, my son won't have Sky Flames, but he will still have the marker for them in his DNA."

"Correct." Timoteo interjected. "Now, if you're wondering about you're other sons, Tsunayoshi-kun and Natsume-kun, then I actually already checked the DNA you had on file for Nana, and she has markers for Sky Flames. No worries, your boy's in Japan will have the title for Vongola Tenth."

"No, I named Giotto after the first, because he will be the new coming of Vongola. Not one of those brats in Japan. No one can tell which is older, so neither can have that title anyway." The man sounded so angry at the thought that his youngest wasn't being chosen over the older two.

 _'Brats?'_ "But Iemitsu, there's nothing you can do to change things. Giotto has Lightening Flames, not Sky, and you can not lead the Vongola without Sky Flames." Timoteo said kindly, trying to defuse the tension raising in the air again.

"Actually," Reborn began again, "that's not true. There is something he could do. But it would entail destroying part of your son's DNA while putting him in mortal danger at the same time. The Estrono were doing something similar before they were killed. Nothing they did ended in survival, _ever_.

"And what do you mean you named him Giotto after the first? Just like how Xanxus was named with two X's in his name for the same reason? Just because you were gifted the name, doesn't mean you're gifted the same destiny." Reborn finished rather sourly. The hitman finished his drink and got up, walking away then. At the door, he turned back, "I take it then, Nono, that I am to go to Japan to teach these two kids?"

"Yes please, Reborn. But please try to keep their mother out of it." Reborn nodded and walked out, not giving Iemitsu another glance.

"Well, that won't be hard. Keeping her out of the loop." Iemitsu said, standing up and heading to the door as well.

"Why is that?"

"Because the bitch is dead. Has been for 2 years." And he left before Nono could ask him anymore about it. With wide eyes, Timoteo watched as Iemitsu grabbed his son's hand and began physically dragging the boy away from his conversation with the maid. All he could hear before the door closed was a small, "Papa, let go! That hurts!"

Timoteo grit his teeth. He really had been so wrong in his judgement of that man.

* * *

Arriving in Japan by plain went about how Reborn had expected; everyone was annoying him, thinking him nothing more than a real infant who needed their care and attention. And Reborn was **so over it.** He grumbled as he threw his suit case into the back seat of the small black car taking him from Tokyo Air-Port to Namimori.

"So?" Reborn began, speaking to the driver once on the road for an hour. "Did you do what I asked?"

His contact nodded. "Yes, sir, I put up most of the requested camera's in Namimori, and I've located the twins. They... um... Well sir, they were not living where they had been listed. Actually, the house was demolished. There is a small playground there now. The twins live alone in a one bed-room apartment."

"Alone? What about their mother?"

"She died, sir, about 2 years ago. A massive stroke that stopped her heart. She died before she got to the hospital."

* * *

Reborn looked up at the building the twins lived in and shuddered. These boys were practically on their own; no one was helping them, not even their own father. Reborn sneered at the thought. Who the hell could be that heartless?! With a deep sigh, Reborn started up the stairs, thinking about the thin file (literally 2 pages, one sided, and one for each twin) he had on the boy's and about how Iemitsu _was so dead the next time they crossed paths_ _ **it wasn't even funny!**_

Reaching the door, Reborn set down his suit case and checked his watch for the ninth time that day, making sure the twins were in school, and began picking the lock to get inside the apartment. He heard the familiar _click_ of the door unlocking, then the equally familiar slide of a thumb-print scanner being unveiled. Balancing on the door knob, Reborn blinked and looked just above the lock. Sure enough, there was a scanner, flashing away, asking for a finger print. After 5 seconds it disappeared back into the door it's self, and relocked the door.

"Well... That was unexpected." he recalled his contact's words _'most of the camera's'_ and realized he should have gotten more information on that, but his brain had been stuck on the fact that their mother had died and they had been left alone despite it. His contact had only put the cameras up around the building, and one right in front of the door, as well as around Namimori following the twin's main patterns and at their school.

Eyes narrowing, he tried the lock again, and again heard the door lock and then the finger print scanner, and looked it over for a port to attach Leon into, to try to get past it without actually needing one of the twins to unlock the door. Leon was a handy partner like that, turning into his cell phone, laptop and whatever really, when needed.

But there was no port, and as handy as Leon could be, the shape-changing lizard could only do so much when his partner was unprepared. Reborn was really starting to regret not getting anymore information out of the man when a thought passed his mind and he realized something else.

These boys were supposed to be regular civilians, how the hell did they get a finger print scanner? And why would they need one?

* * *

Tsuna smirked, watching the screen on his desk at school. The lock being pulled back had turned on the camera he'd put in not 6 months ago, and grinned when the information he'd gotten earlier that day was correct. Reborn, _the_ Reborn, the best of the best of hit-men, the genius of death and silent ends, was having trouble seeking into his lowly apartment. Tsuna figured that if the famed Arcobaleno had been prepared, then sneaking in wouldn't have been a problem, but it still put a smile on his face nonetheless.

* * *

The magic ring was taken from another fandom that I would like to one day write in, Jim Butcher's _Dresden Files_... I'm sorry.

Also, thank you to all who reviewed! You guys are amazing!

Less twins in this chapter, but now we know why it has to be one of them, and not little Giotto, who's such a sweet kid, really, just one with temper issues. Think a bigger Lambo. Oh, and did anyone catch that his favourite memory was Nana's funeral?

And was the whole 'Flame Genetics' thing believable?

-Mel Writer.


	3. Chapter 3

Heeeere's Chapter 3!

Warning: 2772 Tsuna/Natsu Twincest. Swearing. - reason for the 'T' rating.

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

Also, I re-uploaded chapter two, for an edit that needed to be done. For those of you who don't want to re-read the whole chapter for one mistake, I really just changed one half of a sentence while Reborn was talking to Nono and Iemitsu. It has no real barring on the chapter as a whole. Thank you for for pointing out that plot hole!

* * *

About 4 months after their mother's unfortunate passing, the twins received a laptop from their grandparents for their birthday, and Tsuna had all but fallen in love with it. Less than a week and Tsuna had mastered the use of it and Natsu felt it was pretty much his brother's more than theirs. Tsuna had always loved reading, so when he had stumbled across a page that was all about how to hack, Tsuna all but devoured it. Self-taught, Tsuna became a hacker; perhaps not the best in the world, or Japan for that matter, but he felt that he was pretty decent if not average.

That one fateful morning Tsuna had been just finishing up making his and his brother's lunches when he got a notification from a friend in Italy, telling him that they didn't know why, but _the_ hit-man Reborn was on his was to Namimori, and that 27 had better look out. Tsuna had smile at the note and thanked his friend, letting her know that all would be alright. At least Tsuna assumed it was a 'her'. She called herself 'The Princess' so...

So Tsuna up-ed the security on the main door, adding in the finger print scanner as a lest second thought. It wasn't real, but it did have a self re-locking timer on it. So after 5 seconds without anyone opening the door, the door re-locked itself. It should give the hit-man pause, and Tsuna long enough to watch. It wasn't like the Reborn was there for them after all. They were just two practically orphaned twins... who's father was an ass...

Natsu had left earlier for basketball practice before classes, so Tsuna had time on his own to think it through. For about 2 months now, Tsuna had known about his semi-royal heritage from his father's side, but he honestly couldn't care less about it. No, it was the man's ties to the mafia that Tsuna was angry about. He wasn't sure why he was so mad about it, but he was, and even worse, how was he to tell Natsu? _Should_ he even tell him?

On the way to school, Tsuna noticed all the extra camera's on their rout, and realized the killer wasn't here to kill him specifically, but instead for something else. Tsuna narrowed his eyes in thought, _was_ the killer here for them? There was a new camera in the front lobby of their building, too, and another just outside the front entrance, and at least 3 more that Tsuna could see in passing. But... why target them? Or was this their father's doing?

Tsuna sighed as he sat down at his seat, thinking that this was too much thinking for one morning, and instead listened to all the whispers around him.

"Omg, is dame-Tsuna really here today?"

and,

"Why? He'll just fail and not come back again for another few weeks."

and, louder than the rest,

"So pathetic, he's ruining his brother's reputation. Just stay home, and never come out again."

Tsuna sighed again, and opened his text book to do a little light reading before class started, once again ignoring the new rush of insults that came his way. Yes Tsuna was hacker genius smart, and if he really wanted to, he could already be in advanced high school classes. But he didn't want to. He wanted Natsu to be perceived as the smarter, better twin, because that way Tsuna could hide nicely in his shadow, never to be seen again. Tsuna looked up just as the door opened to the classroom and the class star, also known as the other half to Tsuna's whole, came strutting in, swarming with girls on either arm, his bag being carried like some treasure made of gold by a girl who probably thought that this would be that best day of her life.

Natsu looked around the classroom, gave a happy shout of 'Tsuna!' and began almost viciously tearing at the hands on his arms, grabbing his bag from the girl who's 'Best day of her life' bubble was suddenly burst.

"Tsuna! I didn't think you'd make it in today!" the sport's maniac sang as he got closer. He stopped to glare at the student in the desk ahead of Tsuna and all but threw him to the floor to take his seat. "Here," he said dryly and handed over the other student's bag, dropping it to the floor the moment the kid reached for it. "Thanks for switching with me." Natsu regained his smile as he sat backwards on the seat to face Tsuna.

"Well, I can't let my brother go without his lunch, now can I?" Tsuna said in reply to his brother's earlier words.

"My... Lunch?"

"Yes, your lunch. You were in such a rush this morning to leave after you woke up late, that I didn't get a chance to finish making your lunch before you were out the door, so I came to school today to bring it to you. Maybe I'll stay the whole day, maybe I'll leave early. Who knows?"

The two of them shared a laugh as the rest of the class scrambled to their seats with the bell chiming in the back ground.

"Alright! Sit in your seats and lets begin class!" Nezu-sensei all but shouted over the student's voices, and Natsu turned to properly face the front of the class. "Ah, Sawada Tsunayoshi. I'd like to say it's good to see you, but lying in front of actual students is bad."

The class, minus a seething Natsu, giggled.

"Ah, Nezu-sensei, I'd like to say that it's good to see you too, but I pity how ugly you are too much to lie to you." Tsuna grinned and Natsu laughed outright, turning to high five his brother. Tsuna gave into the childish gesture and returned it with an innocent smile. Grumbling, the man began the lesson.

At about 10:30 Tsuna's phone went off with a silent buzz in his pocket. He smirked. Who wouldn't? Their 'guest', should the infamous killer really be there for them, had arrived and was trying to use the front door. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and laid it on his desk, putting in the headphone to listen in on the hit-man, provided if he actually made noise. He watched the killer's confusion about the finger print scanner for another minute or so before Reborn gave up and walked away, probably to go to the school to confront the boys there instead and follow them home.

"Sawada!"

Tsuna and Natsu both flinched at the loud voice and looked at their teacher. Nezu was standing over Tsuna with what could only be described as barely concealed joy as he said,

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, watching a show on your phone in my class? Why would you do that? Did you want to be sent to the principal? Because that's where you're going. Now."

Tsuna smiled and said, "With the utmost pleasure," and started to stuff his bag with his things, grabbing Natsu's bento while his hand was in there.

"Here." he said standing and sliding the food onto Natsu's desk. "I'll see you after practice?"

"Yeah..." Natsu pouted. "Do you have to go?" Tsuna smiled and squeezed his brother's shoulder before jerking his thumb over at the teacher, "Do you think I got a choice?" Natsu grumbled out a feeble little no, and Tsuna couldn't resist running his hand through his brother's hair. With a big, shit-eating grin Tsuna turned to walk away.

"Wipe that smile off your face." Nezu sneered.

"Only if you pull that stick out of your ass." Tsuna countered, turning at the door and giving the teacher a wink. "Or did I push it in too far last night?" he laughed evilly as he bounced out the room, listening to the man's shriek of rage.

Tsuna skipped out on going to the principal, and instead left the grounds to go home, narrowly avoiding certain death by a certain perfect. Looking down at his hand, Tsuna was of two minds about what he'd done. He had slid his hand through Natsu's hair, and they had decided that that was an act that was 'more than brotherly' and therefore shouldn't be done outside of their home. On the other hand, it had felt so right, like silk falling through his fingers. Like his hand was made solely to be tangled in that hair. It was a feeling Tsuna knew he could get addicted to, and that was why he had made it clear to Natsu that they shouldn't do it.

Because if anyone found out about the two of them, then they may not ever get to see each other again, the government would tear them apart. They would be forced into therapy and Tsuna knew that they'd be able to brainwash Natsu into believing that what they had was wrong.

And maybe it was wrong, Tsuna wasn't sure. After all, they were brothers. _Twin brothers_ , and kissing and holding each other like they did... but it just felt so _ **right**_. Tsuna felt like he was born with his soul mate at his side.

"What are you doing out of school?"

"HIIIII!" Tsuna practically jumped out of his skin as the voice came from his shoulder, and he leaped back in an instinctive measure to get away from the sudden danger. The teen landed on his butt in the ally way, looking at the small, yet larger-than-life killer, _Reborn_. "Well that was an interesting noise, Sawada Tsunayoshi. But it's not an answer, so I'll ask it one _last_ time; what are you doing out of school."

With his back literally to the wall, there wasn't much Tsuna could do at this point. And while that last sentence was phrased like a question, there was no doubt that it was a threat. The threat that Tsuna wouldn't like what would happen if he didn't tell the hit-man everything, now. So, he told the killer the truth.

"I was kicked out of class and sent to the principal and the disciplinary head, for disturbing the class during teaching. So I skipped that part and just decided to head home." Tsuna pulled every bit of worried caution to the forefront of his mind, lowered his chin slightly and continued, "What about you? Arcobaleno Reborn, what are you doing this far out of Italy?"

* * *

"Natsume-kun, why is your brother like that?" Nezu-sensei sighed, shaking his head. It was lunch time and he was just leaving the room, but the man couldn't help asking the question on his way out. Natsu sighed and didn't answer. The man left and the popular twin found himself suddenly surrounded by peers; a vast majority of which were girls he had no interest in. One of said squeaky preteens spoke up.

"Actually, I want to know why your brother is like that too. He's totally ruining your reputation." before she could continue to press on, one of the boy's on Natsu's left said,

"What I wanna know, Natsume, is why your personality changes when he's around."

Natsu blinked and looked at the boy who had spoken. "...what?" others around him started blinking at Natsu questioningly.

"You... didn't notice?" one girl ventured.

"No? I mean... What do you mean 'my personality changes'?" the basketball fanatic was given a rather blank look.

"...you bodily picked up another student and threw him out of his chair, just so you could sit next to your brother."

Natsu responded with an equally blank stare, "Isn't that normal?"

"No, Natsume, no that is so not normal."

"And you literally clawed at my hands so you could get to him faster." the first girl piped back up.

"And you totally broke two of my nails taking your bag back from me." another said, holding out her poor hand for the world to check out. And it was true; one of them was dried with a speck of blood. Natsu winced and gave a sympathetic "ow" before he went back to his _bento_.

"But I still have no idea what you guys are talking about." Natsu really wasn't unaware of his personality shifts when it came to his brother. He couldn't help it though, there was something about Tsuna that just brought it out of him. He _needed_ to be right beside the other. Leaving for school everyday was hell on his mentality, the only upsides being the kisses he gets when he leaves and comes home, and the joy he gets from basketball in-between.

"So, on a completely different topic," a different girl said, trying to diffuse the thick tension rising in the classroom, "Where did you get that _bento_? It looks homemade. Did your grandma make it?"

While most people knew about Nana's death, few had any idea about their lives with out her. Natsu didn't think there was anyone in his class that knew that technically, the twins were in their grandparents care, since Iemitsu wasn't willing to move back to Namimori, or take the twins with him to Italy.

He shook his head, both to dissipate the depression he could feel settling in his brain, and to answer the girl's question. "Nah. Tsuna made it. He's pretty awesome in the kitchen. You should taste his western style roast, or any of the pastries he makes." Natsu smiled ruefully. "He picked up a lot from mom before..." _'crap...'_ his smile dropped at the memory he accidentally brought up, and he went back to eating.

Apparently feeling the sudden tension all but quadruple, his peers began their own conversations around the now sulking young teen. And Natsu was OK with that, because none of these people were his friends. They were only his admirers, they ignored his shortcomings so long as he had skills as an athlete. He could feel the stares he was "discreetly" getting from the other popular-for-his-skills-athlete Yamamoto Takeshi, but he ignored them.

Right now, Natsu needed to calm his rapidly degrading thoughts and focus on finishing his _bento_ so he could do school work, and skip practice to go home faster. He needed his brother's calming words and his soothing touch. He needed his brother to tell him he was OK.

He needed Tsuna.

* * *

Reborn sighed. This cheeky brat was hardly worth his effort, but he couldn't stop himself from landing one well-aimed kick to the boy's head. He needed to be reminded who he was talking to, after all. Leon jumped down onto the unconscious heap of cheeky brat to make sure the damage wasn't permanent, before hopping back up on Reborn's hand.

"Well, now what?" With a little lizard-like shrug, Leon transformed in Reborn's hand into a water gun. Giving a shrug of his own, the hitman turned the gun toward Tsuna and sprayed his face.

Nothing. Not even a twitch. Reborn scowled and grumbled to himself, blaming his self-control for this whole fiasco. Stifling another sigh, Reborn jumped up on the boy's hip and made himself comfortable.

"To quote a wise woman," he began, "Don't lay down in the middle of the street, or you'll be sat on."

Settling down, Reborn checked his watch to read 11:17 and figured Tsuna would be out another 5 minutes- 10 minutes tops. So he waited. And waited. And waited... and... waited...

It was close to 4:00 pm when Tsuna finally woke up. School was out and Natsu was shaking him awake, and panicked look on his face. "Tsuna!" the boy cried, "Tsuna! Oh thank god you're OK! I was so worried about you! You were just lying on the ground and you wouldn't respond when I called your name! I-"

Tsuna tuned his brother out for the moment, deciding instead to take in his surroundings and try to piece together what had caused him to fall unconscious in the middle of the ally-way.

" _What about you? Arcobaleno Reborn, what are you doing this far out of Italy?"_

Tsuna paled considerably and shot up off the ground, dragging his brother up with him, and looked around wildly, spotting a very irritated Reborn standing not to far away. The hit-man was actually pretty close. On Natsu's shoulder. Lungs failing, Tsuna almost fainted. Again.

"N... Na-Na-Na... NNNNNNatsu?" he gasped out, pointing at the killer on his love's shoulder.

"Hmm?" Natsu looked over at the seemingly innocent infant on his shoulder. "Oh, this little guy? He found you lying on the ground, and decided to stay with you till you woke up! Isn't that awesome? So young, yet so smart and protective." Natsu put all the gentleness he could muster in his movements and pulled the baby into his arms. "Say, little one. Do you have a name?"

"I'm Reborn." Reborn honestly couldn't believe the contrast between the twins. One was nearly oblivious and the other knowing and cautious. One strong in school and the other weak (though Reborn had a feeling that was due to their own making, and did not really reflect on the twins mental capabilities). Yet they both had equally amusing reactions, albeit complete opposites.

"Aweeee, Tsuna! Can we keep him? Please?!" Natsu pleaded, pouting his lips and doing his best kicked-puppy impression. His lower lips trembled just as Tsuna narrowed his eyes.

"Natsu?" Tsuna sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to stave off hi on-coming migraine.

"Yes?" was the small (adorable) response he got.

"That infant? He's a killer. A hit-man. A _trained_ assassin."

Natsu tilted his head in confusion, his hair bouncing with the movement.

"Tsuna?" the teen asked, his pout disappearing.

"Yes?"

"He's a baby. He hasn't been alive long enough to be trained to be an assassin. And besides, look at this face!" here, Natsu shoved Reborn forward, apparently forgetting all the gentleness he had used before. Reborn had a feeling if he had been a real baby, his neck might have been in danger there. "Does this face look like the kind of face that would kill someone?" Tsuna and Reborn just stared each other in the eye and mutually sighed.

"So," Tsuna said, ignoring his brother for the moment and addressing the assassin instead. "Why are you in Namimori? If you had been here to kill us, we would both be dead before we ever knew you were here. But you haven't killed us yet, so that's not it. If you were here to kill someone else, we would never have known you were here anyway. Yet here you are."

"Like I said, Tsuna!" Natsu interrupted Reborn, pulling said cursed (and now very _irritated_ ) infant back into his arms, "He's just a baby! He can't kill anyone!"

Reborn peered up at Natsu, narrowing his eyes at the level of oblivious the teen was showing.

"OK, enough Natsu. I'm being serious here, Reborn is _not what he seems_." Tsuna said, eyes narrowing enough to let his irritation show. He huffed when Natsu showed no sign of understanding.

"And if you suggest I'm just an infant again, I'll make you hurt like never before." Reborn threatened, putting out as much blood lust as he could; enough so that even Natsu, as oblivious as he was, suddenly tensed, his arms tightening around the hit man before he relaxed enough for Reborn to slip out and land on the ground. He looked up and into Natsu's eyes, watching as they peered back at him. There was fear in his eyes, but not strictly for himself. Well, there was a fear for his own safety, but above that, there was fear for the safety of another. The preteen gulped and took a protective step towards his brother, standing between the hitman and Tsuna.

 _'That's a good sign,'_ Reborn thought to himself, watching Natsu instinctively protect his brother. _'If it means that the twins are willing to protect each other, it might mean they'll learn to fight with their Dying Wills a little easier.'_ Tsuna reached out to grab onto his brother's arm from behind, not in a manner to protect himself, Reborn realized, but more to hold Natsu back from attacking should he try anything stupid.

The height difference between the two identical twins was shockingly obvious when they stood so close together. Natsu was almost a head taller than Tsuna, his arms and legs were longer too, as was his torso. It was no wonder that Natsu was considered the freshman star of the Namimori basketball team. Reborn also took note of the twin's similarities. The shape of their faces was the same, including where they still had a touch of baby-fat lingering on high cheek bones, same noses, exact same shade of chocolate brown hair, and pale skin tone. Their eyes, however, were different shades of brown. Natsu had more of a dark chestnut with gold flecks near his irises, while Tsuna had honey-dew gold mixed in with a light brown.

"Well, this conversation is going no where fast, so how about we go back to your apartment and talk there? More privacy." Reborn suggested, eyes never straying from the twins.

Tsuna dipped his head down behind Natsu's shoulder, hiding his mouth from the hitman as he spoke. Reborn, with his sharper ears than the rest of the human population, picked up the small talk that the twins shared, "For now, we'll trust him."

Natsu lifted his hand up to cover his mouth, "Are you sure?"

Tsuna nodded into his shoulder, "Yes. With dinner and conversation. Not... _everything._ "

They paused, Natsu visibly relaxing after a moment, before Tsuna walked out in front of Natsu, smiled, and asked politely, "Alright then. We'll have a talk after dinner then. What would you like to eat?"

"Where do you usually eat?" Reborn asked calmly. Tsuna huffed.

"Where? As if I'd just let Natsu eat out while I still live and breath. I cook every meal we eat at home. So what would you like to eat? I'm asking now so I can pick something up on the way home if need be."

 _'Now that's a little odd,'_ Reborn thought as he answered a quick 'anything is fine with me.' _'If I were an unguarded pre-teen at home alone, I'd eat out everyday.'_ The teens started to walk down the ally way and Reborn followed them, a question on his mind.

 _'Why are they holding hands?'_

Well, actually, it was less 'holding hands' and more like they were walking so close together, the backs of their hands were touching and their finger tips were interlaced. Reborn watched as they walked a couple steps toward the other end of the ally way, wondering if the twins even realized they were so close, or if it was just natural to them. They were still grieving their mother's loss after all, perhaps this is how they got through the worst of it? This closeness?

"Reborn-san, are you coming? I need to pick up some chicken cutlets for dinner. And apparently I've been out so long, the shops are closing, so we need to hurry." Tsuna called back, his hand no longer touching Natsu's. Reborn shrugged, ran 3 or 4 steps and jumped up onto Natsu's shoulder. It was higher than Tsuna's, so it gave him a better view.

* * *

Well? I'm terribly sorry, but this chapter just would not come out of my head! I didn't want to force it, but then I noticed how suddenly, two weeks had passed! Or was it 3... I don't know anymore. So... I forced it...

um...

yeah...

Tsuna is OOC in this compared to canon Tsuna. But then again, he's had a much different up-bringing... he's sarcastic as hell and I love it!

-Mel Writer.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4. In which things get... serious.

Warning: 2772 Tsuna/Natsu Twincest. Swearing. - reason for the 'T' rating. THERE WILL BE A 7227 KISS IN THIS CHAPTER! This is also the only chapter with this warning. Tissues will be needed...

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

Also, from this chapter on, spoken words that are **"In bold lettering"** means the twins are speaking together.

* * *

Reborn watched as the twins interacted with the shopkeepers in various sections of the market. Tsuna would begin with pleasantries and then would haggle down the prices on things a small degree. Or rather, he would ask for, say, 3 chicken breasts from the butcher and would be given 5 for an even lesser price than the original amount would have been. And Tsuna would protest (just a little) that that was unnecessary, that he would pay the full price for 3 (despite there being 5) and then the butcher would just grin until Tsuna 'gave in' to the cheaper price. And Reborn realized that, to no small degree, every shopkeeper they came to adored Tsuna. Or perhaps 'feared' was a better word?

Reborn pulled a little at Natsu's hair. "Hey, what did Tsuna do to make them listen to every word he says?" they were standing a few feet away from Tsuna and the fisherman (their last stop before going home), and Reborn watched, awed, as this big, tough-looking guy was just closing shop and was practically begging Tsuna to just take all that was left, no charge. He looked almost...afraid? Yes, that was definitely fear in his eyes.

"You know? I never really asked, and I'm kind of scared to." Natsu shrugged, watching with a small smile as Tsuna joined them a second later.

"Okay," he started proudly, "I've got all I need, and some extra's. I already have the rice at home, so lets go so I can make dinner." Natsu grinned, nodded, and they swapped bags, Tsuna carrying their school bags and Natsu carrying the food.

"So what's the fish for?" Reborn asked curiously.

"Breakfast." Tsuna replied simply, adjusting the strap of Natsu's bag.

The three made it home in good time and Natsu volunteered to put the food away so Tsuna could change. Blinking, Tsuna looked down at himself.

"Change?... Oh right. School uniform. Forgot. Thanks, Natsu!" Tsuna dashed off to their shared bedroom while Natsu put the groceries on the counter. Reborn took this moment to study the small apartment the two had moved into.

The walls were an annoying apartment beige, and the main living room seemed too small for the 3 person couch, and the dinner table looked a bit too big for the two teens who lived there too. Hell, there was an extension for the table and 6 extra chairs stacked neatly just off to the side. That table could seat 8 people comfortably, and it took up a lot of the room as a whole, even without the extension in. And Reborn could tell the table was used for mostly storage of useless things, seeing the mountain of random assorted things covering its surface.

He explored the rest of the small home, to see if many changes would have to be made of the two. After all, Reborn was a hit man of the highest calibre. There was no way he was going to live in such a small place, if it was going to be as unkempt as that table was.

The bathroom had a modest, western styled shower, a toilet, a sink with a cupboard below it and a small medicine cabinet behind the mirror. What had genuinely surprised the hitman had been how _clean_ it was. Not a thing out of its place, no grim in the shower or sink and the toilet almost sparkled. The kitchen was somehow cleaner, if not only because Natsu was there, putting away food and being messy about it. Everything in the kitchen was even more immaculate in where things went, too. That kitchen was well loved and well used, and Reborn had a feeling it had a lot to do with who their mother was. He had read a file on the woman, seen how well she had raised her kids on her own. He was honestly impressed with her tenacity. Not many women he knew could hold up to what she went through quite like she did.

Reborn had checked out the bedroom too, once Tsuna had vacated the room in favour of cooking, and found that even that small room was spotless. It all looked like it had been professionally cleaned; and then an idea popped into his head. Iemitsu couldn't be so much of an ass to not at least make sure his kids were clean and/or eating properly. He probably sent in someone to clean the place top to bottom once a week. From the bathroom to the living room, and everywhere in between. Even the bed had been neatly put together!

 _'The hell am I thinking. Of course he is that bad.'_ Reborn thought sadly. He thought back to when he was walking out of Nono's office. He was almost half-way down the hall when he had heard a commotion behind him, and turned to watch Iemitsu grab and pull his little son's arm so roughly, the boy cried out in pain. It was a disgusting display of brutality, and Reborn knew there was nothing he could do about it. Should he try to stop and/or make Iemitsu let go, there was no telling what would happen to the kid once they were home. And what else could he do? Take the child? The boy was 7 years old, to big for Reborn to carry, and far to recognizable to those who knew who his father was. That and he was going on a mission where Iemitsu knew he wouldn't move away from.

Reborn was pulled back from his memory when Natsu walked into the room. They stared each other down for a moment before the teen blinked, sighed and walked over to the closet. "Do you mind? I'd like some privacy while I change..." Reborn was already out of the room by the time Natsu looked up from the set of pajamas he was about to change into. Namely, a loose tank-top and his favourite pair of sweat pants.

As he began taking off his uniform, he reflected (and blatantly realized) how stupid he'd been just a moment before. It wasn't entirely his fault though, Tsuna just looked so cute in those small shorts that shaped his butt perfectly, and that semi-long sleeved shirt that fit into all his angles _just so_ ... before Natsu even realized what he was doing, he was turning Tsuna around and pushing him up against the counter, kissing the smaller male soundly. Natsu shivered with the memory.

 _Natsu pulled back after a small moment, looked into Tsuna's wide and startled eyes and realized that maybe suddenly kissing his brother might not have been the best move._

" _Um... I- uh..." Tsuna laughed lightly, the sound akin to music floating in Natsu's ears._

" _It's ok," he said, bringing his arms up, one hand cupping the back of Natsu's neck, the other threading through his hair. "I've been wanting to kiss you all day, love." Tsuna's kiss was lighter, softer, but longer, and with so much more passion than Natsu had put behind his kiss. Natsu wrapped one arm around Tsuna's waist and used the other to brace them against the counter. By the time Tsuna pulled back, an eternity had passed, one that couldn't have been longer than 5 seconds, and that didn't feel any where near long enough for either twin. It left Natsu breathless and Tsuna dizzy._

 _With a content sigh, Tsuna laid his head on the crook of Natsu's neck and just breathed in his favourite smell for a moment. Natsu pulled his other arm up to cradle his hand on his brother's neck, rubbing small circles to east any tension that might be there._

" _OK.." Tsuna said in a hushed whisper, pushing Natsu away. Natsu whined and attempted to close the gap between them again, to which Tsuna chuckled. "OK, that's enough. We have a guest, remember? We can't be doing this right now." With a pout, Natsu backed off slightly, then sighed and pulled away fully. Natsu hadn't even completely let go before his arms missed having Tsuna in them._

With a sigh, Natsu bit into his lip and resolved himself. There was no way this 'guest' of theirs was going to stay any longer than he had to.

* * *

Tsuna hummed a little song with no words he'd picked up from his mother while beginning to cook dinner, setting the rice cooker first, as it would take the longest. He knew he shouldn't be so happy when Natsu had kissed him practically right in front of Reborn, but the miniature hitman was exploring the apartment (though Tsuna had no idea _why_ ) so they had gotten away with a kiss and a moment of pure bliss, and that was enough. For now...

"What are you so happy about? You have a killer in your kitchen."

"HIIII!" Tsuna jumped, the knife in his hand coming _just this close_ to cutting his nose open. "Oh my god, could you not do that?! You'll give me a heart attack, I swear!"

"Tsuna," Natsu called lightly as he walked into the kitchen, "I heard you scream. You ok?"

"I did not _scream_. I'm _fine_. Reborn just startled me."

Natsu cocked an eyebrow, "That blood on your nose says other wise." the cut was small, so very small, but it welled up with a small bead of red liquid all the same.

"Blood?" Tsuna put the knife down and dabbed the end of his fingertips against his nose. There, when he pulled his fingers away, was a small droplet of blood. "Oh... I'll be right back." the teen dashed off to get the medical kit in the washroom and returned with a small band-aid on his nose.

"So," Tsuna began, "Wanna tell us why you're here, or do we have to guess?"

"Yeah. And how long are you going to be here?" Natsu tried his best to not come off as expecting the infant to leave after dinner. Really, he tried.

"You know what?" Reborn shrugged, "I want to watch you squirm. Guess, you have three tries."

" **Each?"**

"Nope."

" **Damn."**

Reborn did his best not to laugh, but he knew that eventually them talking at the same time was going to get annoying, so he let out a chuckle since for now, it was amusing. Tsuna raised an eyebrow at the evil little demon as he passed but decided it was best to not question the maniacal giggle.

"I am _not_ giggling."

" **How did you know what I was thinking?!"**

Yeah, never mind. This twin thing was already getting old and it wasn't amusing anymore. The two idiots looked at each other and then started laughing, like them saying that much at the same time really wasn't planed and was hysterical to them. After about 15 minutes of waiting and watching the twins work in near perfect harmony in the kitchen (Read: Tsuna was cooking while Natsu was washing the dishes and counters as Tsuna went.) Reborn was getting a little miffed. Not only were they not squirming, but the preteens were pretty much ignoring him as they went.

Reborn decided to not throttle them just yet; after all, they were feeding him, and the way they worked was almost like a mesmerizing dance. And that chicken stir-fry was beginning to smell heavenly.

"Ah! I forgot! Natsu?" Tsuna turned to look over his shoulder at his brother for a moment before turning back to the stove.

"Yeah?"

"Could you please set the table? Since we have a guest tonight, we can't sit at the couch like usual."

"Ehh? Why? I have to clear it first."

"I know, and I'm sorry I forgot it earlier."

"No, it's fine." Natsu slumped his shoulders and walked out of the kitchen with a heavy sigh.

Tsuna wasted no time and leaned in to whisper to Reborn, "It's to do with the Vongola, isn't it."

Wide-eyed and back going rigid, Reborn snapped his face up to Tsuna. "What- how did-"

"Not right now, just... is it about the Vongola? Or dad and the CHEDEF? Or even our ancestry concerning the Vongola Primo?"

Blinking, and stunned into momentary silence, Reborn managed a single nod.

"Damn it." Tsuna groaned, lowering his head. "Does Natsu have to know? I mean, Iemitsu has already ruined our lives so much... does he have to do it again? And doesn't he have another child with that home-wrecking wife of his?"

Reborn blinked again, shoving his surprise into a box in his mind to be re-opened later and answered, "Yes, Natsume does have to know. This is bigger than you might think, and no, your little brother can't do your job for you in this case."

Tsuna looked so sad, like his world had just took a turn for the worst, and rotated to the cupboards above the sink, grabbing some plates and muttered a 'damn it, Iemitsu' under his breath. Reborn stayed quiet for another moment, letting the youth think through his perceived issue. There wasn't a whole lot the kid could do about it now, Reborn was going to explain everything to them both even if Tsuna didn't want Natsu to hear it.

"Hey, where are the plates?... oh never mind. They're right there." Natsu said, coming in to grab said plates and brought them out to the table, Reborn following close behind and leaving a grumbling preteen in his wake.

To Reborn's surprise, not everything had just been squished onto the back of the table. The majority of the mess went into small boxes under the table, and what looked like all the papers were stacked neatly in the corner farthest away from where the three would be eating. And on the chair brought out by Natsu for Reborn's use were three large encyclopedias and an English to Italian dictionary. Reborn stared in wonder at the books, wondering who they could belong to. He had an idea of who; after all, Tsuna was pretty smart, perhaps they were his?

Natsu took his staring to mean something else entirely though. "Do you need help up or something? You are small-"

Reborn kicked him in the jaw before he could finish that sentence.

Tsuna joined the two of them at the table almost 15 minutes later, hot pan in one hand and un-plugged mini rice cooker in the crook of the other arm.

"Natsu? Could you help me with these?"

Still grumbling about his wounded jaw (and pride, apparently) the tall basketball star got up and took the rice cooker from Tsuna's small arms, bringing it to the table with ease, and setting the pot holder under the pan as Tsuna was setting the large pan down.

"Alright," Tsuna said, settling in his seat next to Natsu, "Food's up! Lets eat."

Reborn joined them in a quick 'Itadakimasu' and allowed the twins to make up his plate and hand it to him. "I hope you don't mind chopsticks." Tsuna said, handing the plate of chicken stir-fry over to the infant hitman, "I forgot to ask, but we don't have forks anyway so..."

Reborn held his chopsticks expertly, pointing them up at Tsuna, "Thanks for the consideration, but I'm fine." he said and took his first bite of chicken. It was cooked perfectly, crispy on the outside, not overcooked or undercooked on the inside and very juicy. He took bite after bite, trying everything, until suddenly half his plate was gone. Reborn smiled internally as he thought back to when he had last enjoyed a home cooked meal this good... it had been a long while ago indeed.

"So, the reason I'm here is-"

"Wait! I thought we had to guess?"

"Natsu, shut up!"

"...is to train the two of you to be mafia bosses."

They both chocked on the food they had just brought to their lips, grabbed their glasses of water, chugged them down, and blurted out a, **"WHAT?!"**

Reborn let out a little snort of a laugh, before he continued, telling them who they were related to and how that made them eligible in the first place. Then the tragic and un-timely deaths of the current heads' children, meaning they were the last two able to take the proverbial crown. By the time he was done talking, they had finished dinner and Natsu had taken their dishes out to the kitchen for him to clean up later.

"What about that other child that Iemitsu has with that home-wrecking wife of his?" Natsu asked, walking back into the main room and settling back at the table with Tsuna. He would shove his non-belief to the side for now.

Reborn took a moment to think on how remarkably familiar that sounded, and realized Tsuna had said pretty much the same thing earlier.

"Giotto was brought up during the conversation, but due to something in his DNA that I'll explain another time, he can't take the title. Only one of you can." startled, the twins looked at each other in concern. Tsuna turned to look back to Reborn, asking,

"What do you mean by that?... that 'only one of us can'?" Reborn could tell they were holding hands under the table by the way they were shaking in their seats. Their bloodline's fabled Intuition was already this strong, huh?

"I think you know what I mean."

"I don't." Natsu blurted at the same time Tsuna said, "Please say it. I need to hear those words from your mouth." Natsu looked confused by Tsuna's choice of words and looked at his smaller brother with narrowed eyes, bringing their hands above the table and wrapping his other hand around Tsuna's tight grip. Reborn thought little of it for the time being and replied,

"At the end of my training, whenever that may be, the two of you will have to fight for the title. Winner takes all." the three of them were silent for a moment,

"And then? What'll happen to the loser?" Natsu's voice was trembling with a mixture of anger and fear. Eyes narrowed and mouth set in a firm line, he looked ready for the worst news...

"You can't be that dense, Natsu." Reborn snapped. "It'll be a fight to the death. The winner will have to make funeral arrangements for his brother." to be honest, Reborn really didn't want to say it like that. After all this was one of the sides to the mafia that Reborn was genuinely bothered by. Family should stick together, period. But in this world, even brothers had to kill each other. Nono's own sons had done the same – though they all succeeded... all but one, but he couldn't take the thrown. Hell, he couldn't even participate in the slaughter of his own brothers.

Reborn looked up to check on the twins when he didn't hear anything... and felt mildly disturbed. Tsuna had leaned sideways into Natsu's embrace (yes _embrace_ ), closed his eyes, and tucked his head in the crook of his _brother_ 's neck. Natsu, for his part in this... weird moment, had his arm wrapped around his _brother_ 's shoulders, pulling the slighter teen into him and held both of Tsuna's trembling hands in one of his own, his eyes were closed as well. Before Reborn could think on what to comment, Tsuna spoke up, asking,

"How long is our training?"

Reborn did not want to interpret that as 'how much longer do we have together'. The hitman decided that his subconscious hated him, because there was no way he was really seeing what was right in front of him.

"How ever long it takes to train you..." he was barely able to keep the shake out of his voice, and the twitch from his eye. "Now then... What are you doing?"

"Hm?" Tsuna lifted his head and looked at Reborn questioningly. "What do you mean?" he sat up a little more and Reborn realized that Tsuna was more or less sitting in Natsu's lap. "That!" he shouted, waving his hands at the two of them. The twins shared a look, then tilted their heads to the left when they turned back to him.

" **Cuddling."**

"... _Why?"_

" **Because that's what couples in distress do,"** they turned to each other, **"Right?"**

"But you _aren't_ a couple? You're twins! _Brothers!_ What the hell?"

"He doesn't understand." Natsu huffed, pouting.

"Reborn-san, you are going to be around for the foreseeable future, yes?" Tsuna asked, leaning foreword and lettering Natsu's hand slid down to his waist. Reborn watched it fall, land low on Tsuna's hip, and suppressed a shiver.

"Yeah, what of it?" the black haired baby grumbled.

"Natsu and I are very different from other siblings you might know. We... well, we're incestuous. We're in love. That's why we'll find another solution rather than have just one of us die." Tsuna looked back at Natsu and smiled, turning back to Reborn with a snarl. "No matter what you try, you can't separate us, just so you know. You can't keep us apart."

Reborn tried to let the information settle before speaking, tried to accept them, because what else could he do? He was here to train them, no matter the condition they were in when he got there. But his brain was just too fried from the information he had been forced to swallow today, (from that fact that Nana was dead, all the way to _this_ ) and before he could stop it, his mouth turned into a snarl of its own and the words, those hateful, horrible words, slithered out.

"That's fucking disgusting."

Reborn had never regretted something he'd said or done so much or so instantly as he had right then. The twins recoiled, eyes wide as if Reborn had physically struck them. _'I probably wouldn't have hurt them as bad as those words did if_ _I_ _had_ _beat_ _them.'_ Reborn mused sadly, watching the shock slowly wear off. Tears sprung to Natsu's wide eyes and the young teen turned his head the moment those tears started to fall.

"Get out." Tsuna's voice trembled with an anger visible in his eyes; a rage that Reborn could feel rolling off the small brunette in waves.

Reborn didn't protest. He gathered his things and hopped off the chair, turning and walking to the door. Tsuna got up to follow him and opened the door for the small hitman.

"I'll be back in the morning. I meant it when I said I was going to train you. You both will be trained to the best Mafia Bosses I can make out of you."

Reborn left without another word, listening to the door close, the lock slam into place, and the heart-breaking sound of Natsu's sobs.

"He called us disgusting!... why would he-?" he cut himself off.

"I don't know why, love... come on. Lets move to the couch."

* * *

I'm sorry...

So this is really late. I got some stuff I have to deal with IRL (Like my job and the fact that I may be loosing it soon...) so I'm going to say that updates may come even later than this one has. I'll do my best to keep up my regular pace (AKA slow) and not let it drop... or I may never finish this story...

R&R?

-Mel Writer.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

Warning: this story contains 2772 love, meaning twin brothers doing indecent things!

Enjoy them doing indecent things! XD

* * *

Reborn had listened to Natsu's crying for maybe another minute or so, before turning and trudging down the stairs. He'd always preferred the stairs to elevators, though he wasn't sure why. He figured it had something to do with how he felt trapped in elevators, where as stairs he could just run faster, if killing wasn't an option, of course. And why the hell was he thinking about all this now anyway?

So he could keep his mind off and away from those cruel words he'd said just a few short minutes ago, of course. It hurt him to know how much he had hurt them with just those three words – and now, worst of all perhaps, he might never get those two to respect him as a teacher! Reborn snapped his head up at the realization, blinking hard and pailing considerably.

If he were to teach them anything now, before he got their trust, they'd never really absorb the information. They'll only fear him, never listen to what he was saying. They'll never hear the words behind his words. If he were to be cryptic about helping them, they'd take it the wrong way; like he wasn't helping them because they were together as a couple.

Which wasn't true, really. Though this is the first time he'd heard of twin brothers in love with each other, it wasn't the first time he'd seen siblings together. He had met a couple that looked so happy together, they had 3 kids, and one more on the way. When it was reviled that the wife was the younger sister... yeah it was strange, but it wasn't horrifying. It didn't ruin his friendship with them; no it was Reborn's job that ruined that. That, and the bullet Reborn was paid to put into the husband's boss's head.

And besides them, there's ancient Egypt too. Most, if not all, the kings and queens were inter-family blood relations. It wasn't unusual to have a brother and sister marry for the sake of keeping the blood-line 'clean'.

But back to the twins, Reborn wasn't sure what to do about them. How would they ever trust him after what he said?

Reborn sighed and continued his decent to a lower level. As luck would have it, Gokudera Hayato, an assassin Reborn himself had called in to become one of the twin's Storm Guardian, was going to stay in this very same building as the twins, just 3 floors below. Barring delayed flights, the young man would be joining them in Namimori around dinner time the next day – and Reborn hoped to god he had the twins' trust by then.

He stopped before the door that the teen would be staying in and let himself in.

The apartment layout was practically the same, from the placement of the kitchen next to the door leading to the rest of the building, to where the small couch sat and teen laying on it, looking up from his book just as Reborn stepped in-

...

"I thought you weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow?"

"Yeah, one of my flights got cancelled and the nice lady in Turkey found me an extra place in business class direct to Japan, instead of needing another stop over like my first flight plan had intended. I got here about 3 hours ago."

"Ah."

There was an awkward pause, disturbed by Gokudera a few seconds in. He closed his book, set it down on the small side table next to the couch and sat up. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Sure. Got any espresso?"

"No, sorry, sir. But I do have a coffee maker and some freshly ground Italian coffee. Would that suffice?"

Reborn sighed. "Yeah, that'll do. Just make it strong."

"Of course, sir." the young silverette got up and strolled into the kitchen, Reborn following close behind. Once the coffee was set and brewing, and the smell of high quality coffee began to float around the room, Gokudera turned to the hitman on his counter. "So, Reborn-san, any reason in particular you're here and not with the candidates?"

Reborn sighed. Sighing turned into groaning, and Reborn tilted his head back until his whole body toppled over on the counter. He didn't care that Gokudera was watching, because at this point Reborn's life as a teacher was practically over if he couldn't gain that trust back that had been so fucking fragile.

"Mind if I crash here tonight?"

Even if Gokudera's answer somehow wasn't an affirmative, and Reborn was fairly sure he would be fine with it, the killer would just make himself at home anyway.

But Gokudera nodded enthusiastically, more than happy to accommodate, and even offered the bed he had shipped up ahead of time. Reborn declined that part though, his hammock was more than enough. The two went back to an uneasy silence, Gokudera pouring that dark liquid into two cups, and pushed one towards the still sprawled out hitman. With a sigh, the infant sat up again and took the offered mug, taking a sip and enjoying the taste of the coffee as it washed down his throat. Gokudera chuckled to himself, looking down at the floor.

"What?" Reborn snapped. Gokudera looked up with a small, bashful smile.

"It's nothing, not really. Just that it seems to be that coffee is the only thing I can make well."

Reborn shrugged and took another sip. "And that's fine, you're young. But you'll be living on your own now, so you better learn something quick."

"Yeah, I know... shall we move to the living room? I'm sure it'll be more comfortable."

"...sure."

* * *

" _That's fucking disgusting."_

Those cruel words were what Natsu had cried himself to sleep over, and what were keeping Tsuna from sleeping at all. He looked up at the clock above the tv reading 12:34 and wondered what he could do.

 _'Well, there's always dishes to do. I should get up and do those...'_ Tsuna thought to himself, looking back at the ceiling. He stayed there for a few moments longer, and looked back at the clock. 12:36. He sighed and sank farther into the couch, soaking in his brothers heat as the giant teddy-bear used him as a pillow. Tsuna didn't mind though. He never minded. After all, a sleeping Natsu was an adorable sight. With that thought, Tsuna looked down at his Natsu, and mentally cooed.

 _'So cute!'_ Natsu's eyes were closed, but they were moving under his eyelids, chasing dreams. His mouth was opened slightly, light little snores escaping, his face pressed against Tsuna's chest, and arms wrapped around Tsuna's torso. His hand twitched and Tsuna couldn't help bringing up his own hand to grasp at Natsu's, holding him tightly. Natsu smiled in his sleep and Tsuna's heart just about melted, and he leaned forward to press a kiss in his brother's soft hair.

He looked around, remembering that this scene was sadly familiar. Natsu was happy when other people were around, but there were times, many times, Tsuna had to calm down a crying Natsu once they were all alone. Even before they had lost mom, Natsu has had sever panic attacks and mood swings. Tsuna had always wondered if it was a chemical imbalance Natsu's brain that caused him to panic or break down, but he was never sure enough to get him tested. After all, it could be just who Natsu was; his personality. And even then, this could all be something that would balance itself out after adolescence.

And although Natsu could hide his insecurities well behind a mask of smiles and laughter, he had never been able to hide from his brother. Tsuna always knew when Natsu was about to break. Unfortunately, most of those time were when they were at school and Tsuna was being bullied. Natsu would break down and either cry if it was just the two of them, or physically attack Tsuna's bullies. Hell, he put one kid in a cast just for calling him 'Dame-Tsuna'! He even bit the poor thing for good measure!

Natsu got better at controlling his emotions after two things. One, Tsuna's bullies realized that targeting Tsuna when his twin was around was a very bad idea, and two, Tsuna stopped going to school. It was around then that Tsuna got the idea of fading into Natsu's shadow and disappearing there for good. And Tsuna was well on his way to achieving that too. By this time next year, Sawada Tsunayoshi would no longer exist by societies standards.

Then Reborn showed up and ruined all that with his nonsense about being a mafia boss.

Damn him...

Tsuna sighed again and looked back at the clock. 1:06. He narrowed his eyes and really looked at the clock... there was something... off... about it...

Eyes and mouth widening in surprise, Tsuna gasped and finally saw the small button camera in the very centre of the clock face. "That little bastard." he muttered and began shrugging off his brother. Natsu moaned in complaint with the loss of heat, but was back to sleeping soundly in a matter of moments. Tsuna walked over to the clock and stared at it... stared at the little camera and wondered if Reborn was watching them right now...

'Pervert.' Tsuna mouthed and stuck his tongue out, turning to walk into the kitchen afterwords. He tried to be as quiet as possible so as to not wake up his brother, and began running water for the dishes. A half hour later and everything from the dishes to the stove was sparkling clean, and Tsuna was just putting the final touches on Natsu's bento for tomorrow.

"There!" he said triumphantly, tying the cloth wrap in a bow. He smiled gleefully and almost, _almost,_ giggled. This bit of domestic love, this small gesture was Tsuna's way of telling Natsu _"I love you"_ without words. Idly he wondered if Natsu felt the same way he did when he was eating the food Tsuna prepared.

Then, at random, just as he was putting the masterpiece that was Natsu's bento into the fridge, an idea popped into his head. An idea that, if successful, would keep both twins alive by the end of this so-called training.

Tsuna spun around quickly, too quickly, and tangled himself up in his own two feet. He caught himself just in time on the counter before he fell, using it to pull his body up before continuing on into the living room. He had a note to write down and a plan to hammer out.

* * *

Reborn opened up his laptop, his real one rather than his Leon laptop, and began watching the video for the past few hours. While coffee with good conversation from a potential ally was always a good thing in Reborn's books, the fact that Gokudera _would not shut up_ was beginning to really aggravate the hitman. Reborn had only just finished convincing the teen that some sleep would probably be a good thing for his health, if only because Reborn was close to maiming the child.

Now it was almost 2 in the morning, and Reborn was ready to monitor the twins. He turned on the camera feed and rewound the video back to when he himself was still there and watched himself say those horrible words. There was no audio, but that barely hindered the seasoned hitman; he could read lips and body language better than most. He slowed down the video after he got up to leave to normal speed, and watched the twins cry together.

Was he purposely torturing himself? Quite possibly. Did he know why? Not really; but he did know that the twin's reactions to his words would help him determine their personalities better, and the way they sought comfort in one another would tell Reborn if he really wanted to live with them or not.

Of course that wasn't to say that he _didn't_ want to live with them; they seemed like good kids, and he was their teacher so he should be living with them. (And Tsuna's cooking was so so good, he really wanted to stay with them if only for that food!) The only thing was...

How far did their relationship go? Just cuddling, like before? Or were they more advanced? Did they have sex? Because if they _did_ , then Reborn did not want to be there for it. He was already jealous he was stuck in this (literally) cursed infants body, if they had sex right in front of him with all his own pent up sexual frustration he was going to take out on them through aggression and spartan-esq training _anyway_ , Reborn might just kill them both then and there, food be damned.

But there didn't seem to be any sex in this relationship, at least, not yet. Tsuna coaxed Natsu to the couch and Reborn sped up the video, watching Tsuna watch tv while his brother cried and fell asleep on his chest, Tsuna barely shedding a tear after they got to the couch. Had he only hurt Natsu with those words? No, Tsuna's reaction had been very real, very pained. Then maybe Tsuna had better control on his emotions than Natsu?

That actually seemed very plausible. From the looks of their relationship, the brotherly one, Tsuna was the older brother and acted like it. Taking on most of the responsibilities and chores, and making Natsu's life a hell of a lot easier by basically being their mother's subtitute. Making every meal, cleaning their clothes, helping him with homework... Reborn sighed.

Of the approximate hour and a half Reborn had to watch Natsu at school yesterday, he realized that Natsu was really, really stupid. Like, the kid had almost no comprehension of the subjects being taught, and coasted on his homework and (somehow) his tests. His in class assignments? All bad failures. That was when the killer/teacher came to the conclusion that Tsuna was helping Natsu understand the lesson of the day through their homework.

There was sudden movement on the video and Reborn startled and paused the camera feed and backed it up to when Tsuna was still on the couch, just getting up. The small male (small for even girls his age group) got out from under his slumbering brother and off the couch, walked up to the clock/camera and stood there for a moment, then mouthed the word 'Pervert' and made his way over to the kitchen.

"I am _not_ a pervert." Reborn muttered and after a moment of watching slight movement in the kitchen, decided to fast foreword for the time being. He watched Tsuna stumble back out to the living room and speed over to his school bag. Reborn was pretty much caught up to the current time, about 10 minutes behind real time actually, so he just watched from regular speed. Tsuna returned to the couch, and crouched next to it, his hand shaking Natsu's shoulder for a moment, waking up the tall teen just enough to usher him to bed.

He came back moments later and Reborn watched as Tsuna passed the camera and came back with a written note in his hands, flashed it for just a moment (with a snide little look and his tongue out at the end, again), then took it and the clock/camera off the wall and over to the table face down, thus ending the video. Through what remained of the light in the apartment, Reborn could tell the lights went out, and Tsuna went to bed.

Reborn almost screamed, reining in his anger just enough to snarl,

"That little...!"

 _Dear tiny hitman ambiguously sent to either kill, maim, and/or save us,_

 _If you would like to somehow re-gain some of our trust, come to the apartment after, and I repeat **after** , Natsu leaves for school. I have an idea on how to keep us both alive and together, while still having only one of us be boss. _

_-*Mitsumi Tsunayoshi._

 _-P.S. Seriously, AFTER Natsu leaves. He's so mad at you that if he sees you before I talk to him, he might just attack. And I'm not going to talk to him about beginning to trust you until after we talk tomorrow._

* * *

Tsuna walked back into the bedroom, and paused. Natsu, for some unknown reason, had begun to take off his tank top, arms crossed over his stomach and pulling at the hem, somehow fell sideways halfway up his torso and went back to sleep. Just like that. Tsuna blushed and sighed in blissful confusion.

His peaceful slumbering face, light snores and a small smile gracing his lips. The light of the full moon from the window fell just so onto Natsu's body, creating the most beautiful of contrasts on him. _'Perfect.'_ Tsuna thought, taking a long step into the room and coming closer to his brother.

Really, Natsu shouldn't sleep like that; exposing his stomach like that could lead to him being sick. (And to Tsuna having a nose bleed.) He looked so... beautifully handsome, lying there half on the bed with his feet dangling and Tsuna moved closer to adjust said feet fully on the bed-

Natsu shifted in his sleep, his body jerking in a sudden jolt, and threw the basketball loving teen to the floor.

"What?! I'm awake! What happened? Tsuna!"

Tsuna laughed without holding back, fully enjoying the look of panicked surprise on his (unharmed, Tsuna made sure of that first) brother's face. After a moment, Natsu seemed to come to his senses, at least enough to recognize that Tsuna was laughing at him, and not in danger. _'Yet...'_

"What are you laughing at? I just fell out of bed!"

"I know! And the look on your face when you fell was _glorious_! Ahaha, perfect- ACK!"

Having heard enough of Tsuna's laughing at him, Natsu turned and lunged, tackling his smaller twin and scooping him right off the floor. Tsuna barely had time to register that he was even off the ground when Natsu threw him onto the bed.

"So, you're gonna _laugh_ at me, huh? Laugh at my pain?" he said, a mischievous grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

"Haha... ha... uh... Natsu? Baby? My love?... what are you doing?" Tsuna's stomach suddenly felt very fluttery. Natsu made grabbing motions with his hands and leaned foreword.

"It's OK, Tsuna, baby, _my love,_ I'm just going to give you something to laugh at, that's all." Natsu pounced then, jumping onto the bed and tickling Tsuna relentlessly. Tsuna let out a shriek of squealing laughter and began his counter attack the moment the other was in reach.

20 minutes later, the twins were breathlessly making out on the floor where their tickling-turned-wrestling match ended up. Tsuna smiled, thoroughly enjoying letting Natsu dominate this kiss, and only ended it because he could tell Natsu was getting sleepy again.

"Come on, love, lets go to bed. You have school in the morning."

" _We_ , Tsuna. We have school in the morning. I'll drag you there if I have too." Natsu slurred, his sleepiness taking hold of his speech.

"I can't love, I have an appointment to make, and an apartment to clean."

"Nnn..NO! You gotta... gotta come... to school."

"Why is that, Natsu?" Tsuna sighed.

"'Cause... need you..."

Natsu swayed over Tsuna and the smaller brunette sat up just in time to catch his brother as he passed out. Tsuna huffed under the weight of his brother and began struggling to get him toward the bed. There was no use in trying to wake him now, the idiot was fast asleep.

Tsuna hauled his boyfriend up onto the bed and laid down next to him, still huffing from lack of energy to do such a thing as dragging his larger brother into bed after wrestling him. _'Damn you, you athletically inclined ape.'_ Honestly, did Natsu out-weight him by, like 50 pounds or something? Tsuna sighed and tangled his legs with Natsu's in an attempt to get something close to warm. Natsu responded in his sleep by wrapping his arms around Tsuna rather protectively.

He closed his eyes, trying to sleep through the terror at the prospect of Reborn coming to kill him for his remark. Why did he have to provoke the hitman, of all people? Was he vaguely suicidal?

* * *

*Because the twins both hate their last name "Sawada" and they can't legally change it until they're older, so they'll be using their mother's maiden name whenever they can, like in a letter to Reborn.

Hi everyone! I'm back! Thank you all for your reviews! Sorry It's late XD

-Mel


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6, anyone? Reviews really do make an author's day ;) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Disclaimer, I do not own khr.

Warning, twincest? Also, because the twins want to keep their relationship a secret to most people, and as they meet more of their guardians, their time and moments alone together will get fewer and farther apart... just so you know. It won't last very long... probably.

* * *

"Have a good morning, Natsu!" Tsuna said, holding the door open for his brother. Natsu grinned and looked side to side, checking for others in their almost deserted hallway, and leaned in, grasping the back of Tsuna's neck with one hand. The taller teen pulled their lips together and kissed his brother as thoroughly as he could. His heart beat skipped once as their lips met and evened out as Tsuna lifted his free hand up to his younger brother's chest. Between what could have been a year or just a few seconds, Natsu ended the kiss, feeling like he needed to stay home for the day, wrap his brother in his arms and just stay on the couch for hours.

"You too." he whispered instead, wanting to at least take Tsuna with him to school. His heart tearing in two, Natsu turned and walked down the hallway towards the stairs. Tsuna smiled at Natsu's retreating back and leaned in the entrance way, watching long after he was gone.

He sighed and took a step back, closing the door gently. He wanted nothing more than to spend the day with his brother, but he knew that it was best if they weren't together today; at least, not right now. Tsuna walked into the living room, intent on getting some cleaning or reading done before Reborn got there for a restart on their supposed tutor/student relationship.

Tsuna sat on the couch, slumped back and wondered when the evil baby would arrive.

"Who are you calling an Evil Baby?"

"HIII!" The teen screamed and jumped in his seat, scrambling to the other side of the couch, away from the hitman.

"Obviously, I'm way worse than that." Reborn stated calmly, sitting on the couch like he owned it.

"Have you never heard of knocking? Holy geeze, I think my heart stopped!" Tsuna exclaimed, placing a hand over his heart and pulling his legs up onto the couch, knees against his chest. Reborn chuckled, his lips pulling into a smirk.

"And how about you? Ever heard of the term 'Overly Dramatic'?"

Tsuna turned to face the hitman and gave him a steady look and raised an eyebrow. "You wanna call me over dramatic after what you said last night?"

Reborn gave him an even stare for a moment, and sighed as he turned away. "Look. What I said last night-"

"Sorry to interrupt, but I won't be accepting any apologies until my brother is here with me." Tsuna said, a sarcastic grin stretching across his face. "You're pride as the number one hitman will make it hard for you to say even once, right?"

"Well, thank you for taking my pride into consideration, but it's unnecessary." His eye twitched and Reborn took a moment to reign in his ire and not take it out on the brat sitting next to him. Hitting him with a Leon mallet would not have helped his case.

Tsuna steadied his stare again and sighed. "Look, you need us to trust you right?"

Reborn nodded and Tsuna turned away, stretching out his legs and said, "Good. 'Cause we need something from you, too."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

Thoughtful chocolate eyes turned back to Reborn and Tsuna asked calmly, standing as the words fell from his lips, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

Reborn stayed on the couch and answered a brisk "No, I haven't. Why?" to which Tsuna offered a half shrug and started strutting toward the kitchen. He let out a small "K" to the hitman, knowing it would irritate him incredibly, and began heating up some leftovers from their own breakfast. He tried to listen for any sounds from the living room, but he couldn't catch anything over the sound of the microwave.

Watching the glow of the small machine in front of him, Tsuna asked himself, was he really about to forgive that SOB for what he said last night? Even after he had to comfort Natsu, and listen to his soul mate cry himself to sleep? _'No... But I have to have him on my side. If it's true what he said about Natsu and I running for the position of Mafia Boss of_ _the_ _Vongola... then_ _one of us needs to die.'_ Tsuna narrowed his eyes and lifted his chin, strengthening his resolve. _'I'll need him for my plan to succeed.'_

Minutes passed, really no more than 3, and Tsuna brought Reborn a try with a small traditional Japanese breakfast.

"It's not poisoned, right?" the hitman said, half playfully. Not that there were all that many poisons that could take him out for good. He poked the perfectly de-boned fish with his chopsticks, raising an eye brow at the teen and watching Tsuna visibly twitch at that.

"No. It's not. But that _is_ what we need from you."

"I'm not giving you the poison you need to kill me."

"No! Trust! It's something to be earned after all. You need us to trust you after what you said? Then trust us. Trust _me._ I need Natsu, in perhaps all the wrong ways for a brother, but I know he needs me too." Tsuna huffed and paused to let the words sink into the killer mind, waiting and watching, eyes filled with determination and... hope. Hope... to be accepted. And it was then that Reborn realized something that he hadn't yet thought of. These boys had let him into their life, told him their deepest, darkest secret. One that if he told anyone, might lead to their being torn apart for good. And what did he do? He had called them disgusting.

Reborn looked back down at his food, suddenly feeling a little chocked up, said a small 'Itadakimasu' and took the first bite. _'Oh my good god, this is so good.'_ Despite having been microwaved, the fish was succulent and flavourful, and the rice was perfectly cooked. He gave a small smile, before he picked up another bite, and said, "So what's this about a plan?"

* * *

 _'Crap, I'm running late!'_ Natsu thought, running to class after practice at top speed, weaving around people to the best of his abilities. First Natsu had been late to practise after helping a little old lady cross the street... and then go get the bags she forgot to gather before crossing. Then after practice, coach wanted to talk to him about his absence the day before and his being late this morning. So of course he had to tell the coach he wasn't feeling the best yesterday, but was fine now, and that he just had to help someone this morning. That was all. But the man seemed to see this as a teaching moment of sorts and started to tell Natsu on the finer points of attendance and being on time for things.

So Natsu got a lecture instead of a shower after practice, and ended up just throwing on his school uniform, not bothering to put it in proper order, and ran to class. In his haste, he misjudged a group of people, side stepping only to come face-to-face with someone else with no time to correct his idiocy. His body collided solidly with a smaller, squishier, squeakier body and Natsu realized he was about to topple onto a girl, and probably hurt her. So he did what anyone with his core strength would do. He wrapped his arms around this girl's body and used every technique he could think of to twist their bodies around, so she landed on him and not the other way around.

He slammed down onto the floor first, feeling the weight of her body slamming down into his diaphragm. Clumsily, Natsu attempted to sit upright, trying to fully regain his breath after having it so completely taken from him, and brought up one hand to his head, the other staying on the girl as he muttered an, "Ow... are you ok?" he opened his eyes to stare deeply into wide, frightened eyes, tears welling up in the corners and face redder than a fresh tomato. Such a familiar face... though his groggy head only made a connection to a name when she spoke.

"Um... S...Sawada-kun... y-your hand." Sasagawa Kyoko's voice's was frail, threatening to break at any moment. Of all the embarrassing things to happen, in front of so many people...!

"My hand?" his eyes lolled over her shoulder to look at his appendage, only to snatch it away at lightning speed, his face turning just as bright red as Kyoko's. In his attempt to keep the girl from getting hurt in their fall (caused by him) he had wrapped his arms around her for a good grip. His hand had, in turn, lowered and kept its hold... on her ass.

"Oh my God! I'm so so sorry! Sasagawa-chan, are you ok? I was hoping I wouldn't hurt you! I didn't mean to... uhm... touch-"

"It's ok! It was an accident, right?" she sat back on her heels, straightening her skirt as she went back. Her head was down though, her eyes refusing to look up at him.

"Yes! A complete accident! I'm so sorry!" Natsu scrambled to his feet, before reaching out the same hand as before to her. "Um.. were you injured at all? I didn't mean to bump into you... Can you stand up?"

She looked up, a smile on her still red face and said, "I'm fine, thank you." she reached for his hand to pull herself up, the embarrassment just beginning to fade, when a rough hand was put on her shoulder and a matching one slapped Natsu's away.

"Listen, you perverted freak, she doesn't need or want your help up." Natsu recognized the voice as belonging to the kendo captain, Mochida Kenske. Still a little dazed from his head knocking on the floor, Natsu couldn't think of a comeback right away and instead just rubbed his hand from being slapped away.

"You bastard. I bet you ran into her just so you could molest her. What if you had seriously hurt her, huh?!"

"Um... It was an accident? It's not like I meant to hurt her. You're the one hurting her if you think forcefully keeping her on the ground is a good thing."

"I'm not doing anything to her!"

"Um, senpai?" Kyoko interrupted, her voice small. "Can you let go-"

"Not now, Kyoko. I'm trying to stand up for you." Mochida all but snarled, his hand tightening on her shoulder. Kyoko winced and raised her hands to her shoulder, trying unsuccessfully to move his hand. Having seen enough of her friend struggle, Kurokawa Hana, another of Natsu's classmates that he had knocked over my mistake while running into Kyoko, grabbed Mochida's wrist and pulled, pushing the idiot off of Kyoko.

"Mind your own business!" Mochida nearly yelled, ripping his hand away from Hana, who turned her hard, stone cold eyes to the older teen and glared.

"Kyoko is my best friend; She'll always be 'my business'." she huffed and turned back to Kyoko, helping her stand. Together they began walking away from the tall male, talking in low tones. Kyoko was limping slightly, making Natsu's guilt worse than before, and he reached foreword.

"Hey, can I help? You should go down to the nurses office, get that looked at." The girls looked at each other and then nodded at him. "It is the least you could do, I suppose." Hana said in a huff, "Even a monkey like you can help her after you're the one who bumped into her."

"Hana-chan!"

"Haha, it's ok, it really _is_ the least I can do. Here, put your arm over my shoulder, and take the weight off your knee. It's swelling a little."

Mochida, having been effectively ignored, decided to take this a bit farther. After all, despite Natsu's star-athlete persona, he had one major weakness everyone knew about; his twin. Yes, Sawada Tsunayoshi was the example of what society itself loathed, but to Natsume? No, there was nothing Tsunayoshi could do wrong. Hell, even speaking bad about the little bastard was taboo to the basketball player. Narrowing his eyes and putting his hands on his hips, Mochida said loudly,

"Oh yeah. I forgot. You two Sawada twins are cowards. You both run and hide when the going gets tough. It's pathetic!" he laughed as Natsu stopped in his tracks and began to turn toward him. It looked like Mochida's plan worked.

The hallway got a whole lot colder, and a whole lot darker in a matter of seconds, and the students just beginning to leave the commotion behind them, suddenly shivered and some turned to run from the impending doom they could feel radiating from their school mate.

" _What_ did you just call my brother?"

Now, Mochida was no stranger to being glared at, but even he felt the chill in the air. Though of course, that never stopped him before, why would it now? "I called you both pathetic cowardly losers!" he smirked, "What? Don't like that I called him out on it?"

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" and Natsu charged in a rage, dropping Kyoko into her friend's arms. The older teen flinched, realizing that his plan may have worked too well... Natsu only got a few feet however, before he was stopped by an arm suddenly blocking his path, cloths-lining him mid run.

"Gahgk!"

And again, Natsu fell to the ground, the back of his head smacking against the ground in a solid thud. The teen raised his hands to his throat where someone's merciless wrist had caught him, trying to gasp in air as he rolled on the ground. He ended up on his stomach, just about to try to stand, when a foot stepped down on his back and held him there.

"You two there, and you." a very familiar voice boomed with authority, "Stay for a moment. The rest of you have approximately," pause "15 seconds before the bell rings and I bite you all to death for being late." there was a pause for maybe another half second, before feet started pounding away; people running for their lives, Natsu assumed. He figured he was right when, by the time the bell rung, there was silence, and the only people (Read: pairs of feet) he could see when he moved his head belonged to Kyoko and Hana.

"Wh-why did you want me to stay, Hibari-senpai?" Natsu had to hand it to the idiot, Mochida hid that stutter rather well. Not well enough, but enough that the girls probably missed it. However despite his bravado, he went ignored.

"I trust that you two female herbivores know to get to class after a visit to the nurses office, right? Then get going. The hallways should be cleared now, so you can get there and then to class faster, _right_?"

"Yes, sir! And thank you." Kyoko said hurriedly, limping away a little fasted than before with Hana at her side.

"And you, you're the captain of the Kendo club, right?"

"Ah.. Yes?"

"As captain, you have the right to challenge this idiot to a duel, so long as it's over seen by one of the Disciplinary Comity. Since you seemed so willing to goad him into a fight in the hall, which is against the rules, then challenge him now and fight after school in the gym."

"Um... OK?" Mochida then coughed and continued loudly, sounding braver than before, "Sawada Natsume! I challenge you to a Duel for Kyoko's heart!"

Natsu couldn't see him from his angle, but he had a feeling Mochida was pointing rather offensively at him. The foot on his back increased in pressure, "Do you accept his challenge?"

"Gah! Yes! Just get off of me!"

Hibari clicked his tongue (saddened by the loss of a toy, Natsu suspected) and moved his foot, only to nudge (kick) the basketball player's side to roll him over. His whine of pain went widely unheard as the demon of discipline turned to the Kendo captain and said rather crossly, "What are you still doing here? Go to class, herbivore."

Natsu smiled as he listened to Mochida's feet run over the tiles, shoes squeaking as he slid and a thud as he fell. He took great pleasure in listening to his sempai scamper away in fear and his brain provided a nice little picture of a small dog running with its tail between its legs.

"What are you grinning at?" Hibari said, startling Natsu out of his thoughts. The dark haired teen stretched out a hand to help Natsu up and the brunette took it. "The thought of Mochida running scared like a dog through the halls. Did he actually fall though? Or did I mishear things."

"No, you heard right. He fell rather pathetically. His pants fell down and everything."

"Seriously?! Ahaha!" he held his hand over his stomach with his laughs and bent over.

"I fail to see the humour in that."

"I fail to see how you wouldn't find that funny." Natsu said, sobering up enough to straighten up, still grinning.

Hibari sighed, "Come on, I'll walk you to class. The last lime I trusted you to go to class on your own, you wondered off home."

"Aw come on. That happened once!"

" _Walk."_

"Alright! Alright! Geeze... so bossy..." Natsu said, turning on his heal and walking to class, his hands in his pockets. His grin never left his face though, and he managed to smile wider when a thought occurred to him.

"Hey, senpai? Has anyone ever told you that you're a mean or cruel person?" Natsu asked while he walked, turning his head to watch the teen that he and Tsuna readily called a 'friend'.

"None have ever been brave enough to tell me to my face, but I hear the whispers from time to time." Kyoya replied coldly, letting a small yet amused smirk settle on his lips.

"Ah..." the brunette turned around entirely, facing the demon in human skin and walking backwards. "Well, that's fine then. They're all wrong anyways."

"Oh? And why would you say that? You and your brother of all people should know I'm quite _mean_ when I want to be." his smirk turned absolutely homicidal, intending on scaring Natsu's line of thought away. Instead the young basketball prodigy stopped walking, his broad grin melting into a soft smile.

"Kyoya-senpai, you made Tsuna and I memorize that guide book front to back and back again. And to my memory, no where does it say that a 'captain has a right to challenge'. No where. And I would know; I went looking for things like that."

The smirk quickly vanished from his lips and the two teens stood in silence for a moment. Finally, Kyoya broke it, sighing,

"He was bugging me with his herbivorous words. And he was provoking you, so I made sure you could fight him unhindered by the hall way or the idiots in it."

"Haha!" Natsu's grin came back in full force, "Awesome! Thanks, _nii-san_."

Kyoya's eyebrow twitched and a sleek steel Tonfa appeared in one hand. "I thought I told you to never call me that in school..."

Natsu faked a gasp and lifted a hand to his mouth, "Oh no! _Nii-san_ are you going soft? There's only one Tonfa! Where's-"

 _THUD_

"Oh there it is..." and Natsu blacked out. Hibari growled lightly and grabbed the fallen boy's shirt collar, deciding to drag the unconscious idiot to the infirmary rather than class.

* * *

 _As it turned out, Hibari Hitomi, Kyoya's 19 year old sister, had decided to get a job to surprise her family with her responsibility._ _This took a tragic turn however, when just two months into her employment Hitomi had to watch her manager die on the floor in front of her while waiting on the medics and being unable to stop it. She called her bosses, the store owners, on her cell phone while she had to stay on the line with the police operator._

 _Two minutes until help arrived and the kind woman Hitomi had sta_ _rted to look up to like a second mother took her final breath. It was the first time in a long time that Hitomi cried, and the first in her memory that she let herself cry in front of other people. It was while her mother had come over and wrapped the 19 year old in a hug (how did she even know to come? Did someone call her? When?!) that Hitomi stifled her tears and overheard her bosses talking, worrying about the fate of the young twins the single mother cared for._

" _Oh my god, she had kids? Those poor babies..." she mumbled, her hands raising to her chest and a small, fresh stream of tears made their way down her face._ _Hitomi's mother, ever the bleeding heart (rather the opposite of her husband and children) asked a near by police officer what was going to happen to the twins with the mother dead, and was shrugged off._ _She was nothing if not persistent though (how else would she have gotten her hands on the ever aloof idiot that she married?)_ _and ended up hounding the detectives wrapping up the scene until someone told her that the boys were_ _going to be held in protective care until their grand parents could come down to bring them home._

 _This was just as unacceptable to her as being shrugged off and she started hounding them until they let her bring the shell shocked twins home with her._

" _There is no way I was going to let those poor babies sleep on a hard plastic sofa in the waiting area of a police station after_ _their mother died! And_ _learning_ _all about what their mother did for Hitomi? How could I let them suffer more?" was her response to her husband's question of why she had brought home two very dead looking children. Hitomi had gladly accepted the kids into the home, but wasn't sure what comforts she could give, so in the end she gave them a long (for her)_ _hug and an offer to let them use her bed for the evening._ _The twins, so broken looking, like weak, lost little animals, simply nodded and Hitomi had the feeling that they didn't register her words, merely reacted to them. Unable the think of anything else to do, she gave them another quick squeeze and got up to help her mother in the kitchen._

 _K_ _yoya passed her on his way into the living room, and she watched him freeze about a step and a half in, turn and glare. "Why are there twin herbivores in my living room?" Hitomi frowned at her brother's misuse of the word 'herbivore', idly wondered if he would ever grow out of it (probably not..) and nodded her head to the kitchen, letting him silently_ _know to follow her as she walked over to said room._

 _Kyoya_ _raised an eyebrow and followed his sister, intent on knowing why there were weaklings in his home. Once in the kitchen Hitomi crouched down to Kyoya's level (Not that he was much shorter than she, the 19 year old just knew how much he hated when she did it) and relented the story of her manager's death, and how her children, the twins in the living room, were essentially orphaned earlier that day. With a spark of emotion Hitomi could_ _n't_ _quite place filtering in Kyoya's eyes, the boy looked over her shoulder at their mother's back, peacefully making dinner for them and their guests._

 _Kyoya shook the emotion from his head as he looked down at the floor. "Fine," he said, as if the whole situation was excruciatingly boring. "_ _The herbivores can stay the night." Hitomi straightened herself and smacked her palm into Kyoya's forehead._

" _They were going to anyway, dork."_

 _Childishly, he slapped away her hand and strut his way out of the kitchen and over to the living room. Hitomi's interest in cooking all but vanished (though she really needed to learn to cook...) and the young woman followed her brother into the living room, where the two distraught boys huddled together as if keeping each other safe. If it were in her ability to coo at them, she probably would have. She watched from the door way as her little brother grabbed the tv remote_ _and_ _fell_ _down to his knees right behind the twins, making them startle and jump, and let out identical little cries of fear. The three sat in silence for a moment before Kyoya hit the power button and turned on the tv._

" _What do you want to watch? If you don't know, then I'll just put on what I want until dinner is ready."_ _the question seemed to catch the twins off guard, and the taller of the two was taking it worse than the other, his whole being suddenly jumping into over drive. Hitomi could feel the poor boy's anxiety from the door way, his panic was_ _floating in the air like a cloud over his little confused head._ _One hand had been raised to his chest, held in a fist, and the other held his brother's arm in a tight grasp._ _His eyes started darting from side to side, almost as if watching something that wasn't there, and his panic was visibly rising._

" _Ts-Tsuna? Where are you?"_

" _I'm right here Natsu."_

 _The panicked boy, Natsu, jumped again, looking back at his brothe_ _r,_ _paused for a half second, and bodily launched himself_ _at his brother's chest,_ _crying out,_ _"Tsuna! Tsuna, where are we? Where's mom?"_

" _I don't know, but if can give me a moment, I'll ask these nice looking people here." Natsu nodded, and seemed to take comfort in Tsuna's hand on the back of his neck, despite the odd angle he was in with his face pressed to Tsuna's chest._ _Tsuna, the smaller of the two, lifted his face to look at the two siblings sitting next to them; Hitomi had hardly noticed that she had crept closer until those sad turned her way._

" _Um... Could you by any chance tell us where we are? And maybe who you are? I'm Tsunayoshi, and this is my brother, Natsume."_

 _The Hibari siblings blinked in unison (unknowingly) and Kyoya decided to speak first. "I'm Hibari Kyoya, this is my sister, her name is unimportant-"_

" _It's Hitomi, you dork."_

" _-And you're in the living room of my house, waiting for my mother to finish making dinner."_

" _Our house, our mother. Get it right."_

" _Oh... OK." was_ _the small boy's_ _quiet response. His watery_ _chocolate orbs_ _looked down to his trembling brother and stayed there for a moment. He lifted his arm to his face and started roughly scrubbing at the tears there, and the siblings watched as those sad eyes blinked into determination._

 _L_ _iking the sudden switch, Kyoya continued, "And you'll be staying here for the night, and tomorrow, until your grandparents come to get you." the smaller twin nodded, his eyes clearer than they had seen since meeting the two, and said, "Thank you for letting us stay, but I think we'll be OK going home for the night." there was silence in the room for another moment, broken when the Hibari mother called for dinner._

 _The 6 ate in relative quiet, and Natsu all but passed out in Kyoya's room after, Tsuna staying up to talk with the family. They ended up staying for the night, and the next as their grandparents hadn't gotten there in time. It was during those two nights and a day that Hibari Kyoya grew undeniably attached to the twins. To the point where he found he could actually, just maybe, open up a little to them._

* * *

So... what do you think I should call Hibari's mother? I can't think of a name for her...

I'm not gonna apologize for this chapter's delay, a lot has happened in the past 2 months in RL. Between my almost eviction and my BF's motorcycle accident, I've had a bit more on my mind than a lovely pair of twins making goo-goo eyes at each other lol.

Alright, I know I've had a few people asking about "Burned Out Run Down Sky", asking if I'll continue it, or what, and to that I say... I'm not sure. See, the plot for that story kinda ran away. I thought I'd never see that little plot bunny again, but then I was re-reading it and I realized... it already came back. A little different than I had remembered it, mainly because instead of being so poorly mistreated, Tsuna is smart and given a twin brother...

Yeah, "Burned Out Run Down Sky" became "Mirror Image, My Mirror Opposite" without my realizing... yay? Sorry for all this note stuffs.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7!

Do I still need a warning? There's little to no twin love in this chapter, though. Or maybe that's the warning needed?

Whatever...

Disclaimer! I Do Not Own KHR!

* * *

"So that's my plan." Tsuna said, an air of finality and a hint of desperation in his voice. He sat away from the hitman this time, taking one of the seats at the dinner table, hands neatly folded in his lap, and back studiously turned away from Reborn. The black-haired man, seemingly forever stuck in an infants body, had finished his breakfast a good half hour before Tsuna was done explaining his plan, asking unnecessary questions despite his complete understanding, just to make the teen twitch and over explain everything. It was also fun watching the cheeky brat second guess parts of his own plan, just because he had to say the same thing over and again.

He had a good plan though, really well thought out. Tsuna was smarter than Reborn had thought.

Reborn hummed, trying to think of a way to betting the plan, when Tsuna looked over his shoulder at the hitman, and said in a sarcastic and deadpan voice, "What? Don't tell me you have _another_ question? I thought you were supposed to be one of the smartest men alive."

Well, there went all of Reborn's good thoughts about the kid. "What do you regret in this life more than anything?" he asked, straining to keep his voice level. Tsuna quirked an eyebrow and turned away, looking down at the table with thoughtful eyes.

"What I regret?" he asked quietly, and Reborn reached up to his partner, letting the lizard transform into a gun, sliding his fingers to fit perfectly on the handle, finger on the trigger. He pointed the gun up at the brat sitting at the table and said sharply, "Also," to get Tsuna to look at him and, "Die for me." as he pulled the trigger. There was a slight moment when he was able to watch Tsuna's chocolate eyes widen in fear, before the bullet broke apart in the air, and a bright yellow flame struck Tsuna in the forehead directly between the eyes.

Tsuna fell back out of the chair, his brother's name on his lips, and that bright smiling face he loved gripping his heart. His back hit the floor and in the next moment, his eyes snapped open, and he burst out of his clothes with a shout of, "REBORN! I will be with Natsu, or I'll die trying!" and sprang towards the door, shattering the chair as he launched over it.

Reborn watched his new student rush to the door and quickly hopped over to the twin's bedroom to grab the boy's school uniform, thinking that he'd follow Tsuna to the school and stop the idiot before he destroyed his relationship with his brother. The killer returned to the doorway and had he not been a hitman of his calibre, he probably would have dropped the clothes he was carrying. As it was, his mouth dropped open in a silent gasp and his eyes widened, the shock of what he was witnessing slowly being processed in his mind.

Tsuna was still in the apartment. Tsuna, the cheeky preteen that had the balls to back talk _the_ Reborn, the brunette with almost godly cooking skills and was in love with his own younger twin brother, was fighting his own Dying Will. Something that just wasn't possible, and yet, Tsuna fought it with everything he had.

He had a bare shoulder braced on the door, and his left hand was holding the knob so tightly the metal was bending, the flame on his forehead still blazing with that bright sky flame, and his eyes were crazed with determination and the will to do anything and everything to get what he wanted.

"I... CAN'T!" Tsuna grunted through clenched teeth, his right hand holding his left arm so tightly, Reborn feared he'd bruise himself, even in his state of neigh invincibility without his limiters. Tsuna's left hand began turning the handle, and he began smashing his right fist into his left wrist in an attempt to force himself to let go. Reborn's cold heart, the heart he long ago thought he'd locked away for good, jumped into his throat; the moment the second hit landed, Reborn jumped up, grabbing both Tsuna's hands and pulled the teen around. Tsuna slammed the back of his head against the door, and fell down to sit on the floor with his back pressed tight to the metal of the entrance. The flame fizzled out of existence from Tsuna's forehead and tears made their way down his face, shadowed for the most part from Reborn by his hair.

Reborn checked the boy's wrist for damage, noted that he was right about the bruise on the forearm, and counted Tsuna's startlingly panicked heart rate.

"I can't..." he gasped out, his voice barely above a whisper. "I can't be with him in public. If we do, he'll be taken away from me... and then I'll never see him again." Reborn jumped from Tsuna's knees to his shoulder to make sure the back of his head was okay; his wrist was fine, if not a little bruised.

"It hurts..." Tsuna pleaded quietly.

"You seem ok, physically."

"My heart hurts."

Reborn jumped off of Tsuna's shoulder and paused to watch the boy curl in on himself, and cry. The two stayed there, one internally panicking, the other curled in tears with his back to the door. Tsuna broke the silence after a moment, and spoke with a shake in his voice that was reenforced throughout his body,

"Were you really just going to let me run out of here, without clothes on, and profess my undying love to my brother? 'Cause that's-" he interrupted himself to sniffle, and wiped at his tears forcefully, "that's rather counter-productive of you. If you _really_ wanted our trust."

"Well, I was getting annoyed with you and your attitude, so yes, I was going to let you run out with nothing but your underwear and determination. But no. I was _not_ going to let you get all the way to your brother." he paused, taking a step closer, "I'm annoyed with you, yes. But Tsuna, I am not so cruel as to destroy you out of spite." Tsuna nodded but didn't look up at Reborn. "I have some ideas on how to fix up your plan. Don't get me wrong, Tsuna, your plan would have worked just fine if the mafia hadn't gotten involved."

Tsuna looked deep into Reborn's eyes, looking for anything to help him believe what the hitman was saying. But the man's eyes were just as solid as the wall around his heart, and Tsuna could only sigh, narrowing his eyes slightly and letting his voice pick up a fake seductive tone, "You're not evil," he said, "You're just drawn that way."

"Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Nice."

"Right? It's one of my favourites. Natsu doesn't like it so much, the subtitles go to fast for him..." Tsuna huffed a small laugh at the memory of Natsu's distaste of the subtitles going faster than he could read them. He sobered after a moment and sighed, looking up and around the corner edge of the wall to check the time on the clock.

"20 minutes." he said, and attempted to stand. Reborn put his hand on Tsuna's leg in hopes of bracing him should he lose his balance. "If I leave for school in 20 minutes, I'll still make it on time for class." he looked down at Reborn and continued, "Does that suffice?"

Reborn nodded and Tsuna nodded back, stooping down to grab his clothes and stumbling into the bathroom. "Then I'm going to have a quick shower, then make my own bento."

30 minutes later and Tsuna was getting glared at from the teacher while sitting in his seat, no Natsu to be found. There was, however, a new student standing at the front of the class, looking for all the world bored; in his posture, at least. Those startlingly bright green eyes were scanning the room, taking in every new face, and Tsuna would have thought that the young teen was only trying to learn everyone of his new classmates faces so he could make friends easier, if those bright eyes didn't land on his, and glared.

* * *

Kyoya looked down at the herbivore soundly asleep in the cot next to the door, then down to the idiot still being dragged in his fist. Then back to the slumbering fool who looked like the supposed new school nurse. Seeing a new amusement trail its way across his mind, and a way to wake them both up, he lifted the brunette in his hand and tossed him up and onto the man sleeping on his first day at work. Kyoya watched in glee as both man and child yelped and fell off the bed, and peered over in mild fascination as they both scrambled away confused. Natsu was the first to realized that the demon was watching them and pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Ah!" he cried out, causing the other male idiot to look over. "Sempai! You just threw me at this old guy, didn't you?" It was more an accusation than a question, but nonetheless Kyoya answered,

"Of course I did. You were both asleep and you needed to wake up. So I awoke the both of you. Problem?"

"YES!" surprisingly, the outburst came from them both. Natsu turned to the older looking man, taking in the long white lab coat, the unkempt look of his scruffy beard, the shoulder-length shaggy black hair, and the heavy smell of tobacco and alcohol on his breath. The teen's large brown eyes met the man's small, beady black ones and he asked if the men was alright, considering that he had been thrown into him.

"Hey, mister-"

Well... he tried to ask.

Natsu was quite rudely interrupted with a harsh shove off the man's lap and the even harsher words of, "Get off me. I'm not old and I don't help guys, so whatever your reason is for coming here, help yourself." and with that, he got up and brushed himself off, walking away toward his desk. Kyoya watched with a quirked eyebrow before he turned to Natsu and stated,

"Well, you're up now. Lets get you to class."

* * *

 _'He's actually walking me to class...'_ Natsu thought, a little disturbed by the idea of this demon being (dare he even think it?) _nice._ He could hear his teacher rambling something as he neared the door, but he paused a moment before opening it when he heard the class start whispering amongst each other. It was odd that Nezu would allow it, and upon sliding the door open a bit, he found why.

"Any questions for our new classmate? Oh! Natsume-kun! Where have you been? Class started 10 minutes ago." Before Natsu could give an answer to that, Kyoya pushed him farther into the room, said a quick "He was with me." shut the door, and walked away.

"What's with all the man-handling today? Geeze..." Natsu muttered under his breath and looked up at the new student and grinned. "Hi!" he said louder and held out his hand for a handshake. "I'm Natsume! What's your name and how'd you find yourself here in little old Namimori?"

The silver-haired teen looked deep into Natsu's eyes, almost as if trying to peer into his soul. Seeming to find nothing he wanted, looked down to Natsu offered hand, smacked it away, and growled out,

"Gokudera Hayato." Turning back to the class as a whole he continued, "Don't bother me." And his eyes settled on Tsuna, glare intensifying, and Tsuna shivered.

Natsu tilted his head, studying his new classmate in a similar way to when Tsuna studied any new book. Taking in his hair colour, his skin tone, his jade green eyes, sharply glaring at some unfortunate soul. Wondering who could have pissed off this foreigner so soon into his first day, he followed Gokudera's glare, saw it settle on his brother and just before he called out his love's name in surprise, watched his brother' shoulders bunch up in tension and shiver from the stare.

"Oi." Natsu said, grabbing this stranger's shoulder and forcefully turning his attention away from Tsuna.

"What-"

"Why are you glaring at my brother? Did he do something to offend you? Say something?" Natsu growled lowly, his hand balling into a fist in the front of the new kids' shirt.

"Alright!" Nezu said, taking a step toward his star pupil, "I think Gokudera-kun's first day would be hard enough without a fight."

Natsu turned to the taller man with a sneer that nearly caused Nezu's cold heart to stop, "Step off old man."

Natsu's hand was smacked away and he turned back to the silver-haired ass-hat who _dared_ glare at **his** brother. "Well?"

"Maybe I just don't like his face." Gokudera growled out, stuffing his hands into his pockets and leaning forward.

"Maybe yours would look better rearranged." Natsu ground out through clenched teeth, his fists balled in an obvious threat. His face contorted into a rage, a challenge that Gokudera liked.

Tsuna huffed a sigh. Why was his twin always _always_ so eager to fight? It was like he thrived on it or something. "Natsu?" he called lightly, a sigh gracing his lips. "Why are you trying to pick a fight with the new kid?"

"'Why'? What do you mean 'why'? He was glaring at you." he grit out, not quite able to hide his disappointment at being called out by his brother.

"Him glaring at me does not mean you can pick a fight with him. Go sit down."

"But Tsuna!"

"No."

"OK..." Natsu wanders over for a small hug, and a 'nice to see you here' before he glares at the kid sitting in front of Tsuna in hopes of getting the seat like the day before. But before he could really make the kid move, Tsuna sighed out, "Your _own_ seat, Natsu." he sent a look of hurt and betrayal at Tsuna and trudged to his seat, sitting with a huff of breath and crossing his arms over his chest. He had left his book bag in the classroom before practice, and it was left untouched, still there.

"Gokudera-kun, your seat is at the back of the class." Nezu said, trying to gain control over the class again after the twin's little drama act. "I would have given you a closer desk, but for some reason, there is someone I was hoping would never come back sitting in it."

Tsuna grinned and dropped his chin into his hand. "Awe, did you really miss me that much?"

"Not even if you paid me."

Lunch comes around and Tsuna invites himself over to Natsu's desk, pushing past all of Natsu's fan girls and fake friends. He finally gets to the desk only to have a hand pushing against his chest, trying to force him back.

"Excuse you," came a vary frustrated female voice. Tsuna looked down at the hand on his chest, and followed it up to the young girl it was attached to. She had on way too much makeup, and a smile that fooled no one. She continued in her high pitched voice, "Who on earth said you could come any where near my Natsume-kun?" Tsuna raised his eyebrow at her.

"Your Natsume?"

"Yeah, _my_ Natsume-kun. He may be your 'brother', but you're far too below him to understand that _that_ means nothing here, aren't you..." her voice took on an edge of pity at the end. Tsuna figured she was just trying to humiliate him, as many have done before her, but she was lacking in all kinds of ways. So instead, Tsuna just laughed at her.

Natsu stood up and moved past the people standing between him and his brother. "Come on," he said, grabbing Tsuna's arm, "Lets go to the roof to eat lunch." he started dragging Tsuna away, only pausing at the door to open it.

"I'm never going to like those people." Natsu blurted out once the two of them were alone on the roof. He gave the space a quick once over to make sure they were alone, before pulling his arms abound Tsuna and hugging him tightly to his body. "I just hate it so much when they say stuff like that."

"I know, Natsu." Tsuna brought his arms up around Natsu's neck and, being careful of his bento, leaned against his brother for a moment of closeness. "Let's eat." he broke the silence and pulled away from Natsu, despite the whine from the other. They sat a little ways away from the door, and enjoyed the shade from the hot sun in the clear sky.

"So," Tsuna started, "What was Kyo-nii doing with you this morning?"

Natsu told Tsuna his whole day, from the elder lady needing help crossing the street, to Kyoya acting strange and walking him to class.

"He even made up a rule about a captain having a... a right to challenge, I think it was? Anyway, he made it up so that I could fight Mochida after school today. In the gym."

"So, wait, you're actually going to fight him? What for?"

"Yeah, I'm fighting him, he insulted you. It's kind of my job as your boyfriend, not to mention, your _brother_ to protect you." Natsu punctuated the sentence by rudely pointing his chopsticks at Tsuna.

"I can protect myself just fine, thank you very much!" Tsuna said firmly, sounding rather insulted. Natsu let out a small laugh at that and it only served to make Tsuna pout more. They shared a moment of silence, finishing their bentos and packing them away.

Once done with that Tsuna turned to Natsu with a look so serious, the taller preteen was reminded of when they were told about their mom. They weren't in the same class, and the police officer had thought that telling one brother and then the other would be easier for them to handle. It was a good call, considering she told Tsuna first, and not Natsu. Natsu didn't want to think about what he would have done if Tsuna wasn't there to help him.

"Tsuna? Why do you look like you have bad news?" he asked cautiously.

"Because I... kind of do?"

"What happened? You ok?" A thought trickled into his head, and his heart stuttered with it. "Are you dying?!" Natsu leaped forward and latched both hands onto his brother's shoulders, shaking him.

"Oh, god no! Natsu, let go! I'm not dying." Tsuna laughed, trying to reassure his panicking little brother. "I'm not dying, I promise." he held Natsu at arms length away with a smile, before pulling him in to kiss his forehead.

"So... What is it then?" Natsu asked, taking a deep breath to calm down.

"Don't be mad, OK? I have reasons." Tsuna put his hands up in a mock surrender, taking on a cautious tone of voice. Natsu raised his eyebrow at that, but nodded for Tsuna to continue.

"I spoke with Reborn-san."

"YOU WHAT?!"

Tsuna tried his best not to laugh at his brother's breaking and squeaking yell, and instead focused on the story of how and why he was speaking to Reborn, and what happened that lead him to school that morning.

"Anything you need clarified?" Tsuna asked, taking in his brother's confusion.

"About half of that."

Tsuna sighed, "Which half?"

Natsu blinked and shuffled closer, "The half with Reborn."

Tsuna smacked the palm of his hand into his forehead before reaching forward and grasping both of Natsu's hands in his own, and said, "OK, long story short, we don't like him. We don't completely trust him. We have not forgiven him. We may never fully forgive him, but we do need to listen to him and trust that he knows what he needs to teach us. We need him, so that we can be together forever. Understand?"

Natsu sighed, "Yeah... I get it. But why him? Why us? This whole situation is because of our relationship to Iemitsu, right? So then why isn't it our little brother instead of us?"

"I don't know Natsu. I really don't. I think Reborn said something about his DNA being all fucked up, but he was kinda vague about it." they shared a long sigh, and sat there a moment. Tsuna let go of Natsu's hands, looked down at his watch and paled. "Uh... Did you happen to hear the bell go off?"

Natsu shook his head, looking down at Tsuna's wrist, and paled too, when he saw the time. Lunch ended over a half hour ago. He looked up at Tsuna's frightened eyes with terror in his own.

" **We are in so much trouble."**

* * *

"So explain to me _exactly_ how you both ended up in my office? _Again?_ " Hibari Kyoya, demon to all and friend to very very few, leaned against his desk and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes tightly. These twins will be the death of him, mark his words... he glanced up to twin smiles, so wide and innocent they looked fake, and wanted to sigh in exasperation. They probably were fake.

The twins shared a look and grinned up at him again. _'Definitely fake.'_

" _Well,"_ Tsuna began. And from there on, Kyoya knew the explanation was going to be very much like a tennis match, back and forth and back again every few words. Natsu continued from there.

"Nezu-sensei was being a jerk."

"He said that if I wanted to bring my brother down-"

"-like our being late was entirely Tsuna's fault-"

"-then there were better ways to do it-"

"-asshole-"

"-so then Natsu got mad-"

"-rightfully-"

"-and yelled at him-"

"-which he deserved-"

"-and then we both got sent here."

"With double the homework!"

" **So not fair!"**

Kyoya just barely suppressed the urge to groan and shout at the universe for putting these two morons in his life, and instead sighed and pointed at the couch and tables. "Go do your homework, I have things I need to do at my desk. Not a word that isn't about the homework, or I swear, I don't care how much my mother likes you, I will bite you both. Understand?"

" **Hai! Thank you** Kyo-nii/nii-san!"

"Just... go..."

And to the couches they went, sitting close enough to touch knees, and Tsuna helped Natsu through the work while Kyoya went back behind his desk to sign legal documents most 16-year-olds had no right even looking over. The three stayed that way, the oldest looking over at the younger two every now and again, making sure they were actually working on school stuff, until the last bell of the day went off.

Natsu and Kyoya looked ready for a fight, getting up and waltzing to the door like the two could take on the world, while Tsuna could only sigh and watch in dismay, trailing along behind them.

' _Fighting idiots.'_

* * *

Hello... Remember me?...

Mel Writer.


	8. Bonus!

No, sorry, this isn't a full chapter so soon, though I am working on it. This is just a little thing to celebrate Kyo-nii's birthday (05/05) also, as a side note, this was mainly written on sleep deprivation and coffee, while I was attempting to stay awake at work. I couldn't stop laughing, not really. Short, sweet, funny, with a touch of angst somewhere in between. Enjoy!

When he found out that the twins were just a bit more than twins. Set 4 months after Nana's passing.

When Hibari Kyoya's mother had made to much western casserole "by accident" the young man knew he was going to have to take the left overs to the twins. Which was fine, he had been meaning to go visit them anyway, if only to make sure they were both going to school, doing their homework and not getting into trouble. The thought was more so aimed at Natsu than Tsuna, as the older twin was the more rational one, despite missing a lot of school himself.

The newly deemed perfect of Namimori Middle school took out the spare key he had of the twins' place and let himself in as silently as he could, if only to startle a reaction out of them. They both made the most irritating (Read: Adorable) sounds when startled, though their reactions after varied. Natsu usually got rather mad at himself for not seeing the "attacker" and would then try to say that he wasn't at all startled, and would fight you tooth and nail on it if argued against. Tsuna...

Tsuna reminded Kyoya of a chipmunk in some ways. His cheeks would puff out in embarrassment, and he would then blush so red, the older teen often wondered if he was on the verge of passing out. Yes, Kyoya would admit to himself that at least the younger boy was adorable. At most... a potential partner in the future. Maybe even more. Tsuna was stronger than he let most think. He let himself be bullied to boost his brother's popularity, he was the ultimate shoulder to cry on, and other than the first night the two spent at the Hibari home, in Kyoya's room, the teen had not cried. Not even when their house and all their memories of their mother were stripped from them. He was a carnivore in the making, a small one, maybe more like an otter than a chipmunk?

Cute and cuddly and absolutely vicious when needed...

"Oh... Natsu...!"

Kyoya paused in the doorway to the kitchen and his brain froze while trying to understand the scene in front of him. Tsuna sat on the counter, his legs spread to let Natsu nestle between them, his eyes closed, face flushed, ankles crossed behind his brother's back, keeping him firmly right where he was. One hand was braced behind him and the other was curled around Natsu's neck, his bottom lip held loosely between his teeth. Natsu for his part in this embrace had his head bowed low and although Kyoya couldn't see it from his angle, he had a feeling from Tsuna's moans that he was likely... doing something brother's shouldn't do. Or 11 year olds, for that matter. Kyoya decided to make himself known to the two of them when he saw one of Natsu's hands start to slid up under Tsuna's shirt.

He had meant to let out a polite cough, hand the two his mother's extra food, and run out as fast as he could. He had meant to... but instead what had come out of his mouth was somewhere between a crack in his voice, and the dying gasp of a mutilated vulture.

It got the twins attention all the same.

There was a long, long minute where the three just... _stared_. It was broken when Kyoya almost mechanically lifted the bag holding the extra food, and said brokenly, "Mom...food... extra..." and quickly set it on the counter, letting go of the bag. That turned out to be a bad decision as he had apparently set it down wrong, and the whole thing started to tip to the side, off the counter. Never in his life had Kyoya needed to _scramble_ to catch something, but his brain had shut down to the point that even his skilled reflexes had lowered to less than average. He stood with the casserole dish in both hands, and set it properly back on the counter, then slid it back a few inches just to be sure it wouldn't fall again.

He took a moment to re orient his thoughts, and nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand reached out and clasped around his wrist. He twisted to Tsuna, pulling his hand free with the movement, and took two long strides back, his breathing panicked. The sudden shock of being forced away melted into hurt and fear, and those large eyes began to water. But in the second it took for Kyoya to realize his mistake, and try to make amends with Tsuna, the small preteen lifted his chin, hardened his eyes and puffed up his chest.

"Do you have a problem with us, Hibari-san?"

 _'Hibari-san'_ The name echoed in his mind over and again, Tsuna had never used his last name before. But Kyoya figured that that was likely because of how much he had hurt the boy. Since his brain was still trying to resuscitate itself, he merely shook his head and hoped that was enough to bring a smile back to Tsuna's face. Evidently it wasn't, because the boy just scowled and opened his mouth to start shouting... something when Natsu stepped in.

It wasn't like Natsu to be the rational one, rather the twins had practically reversed their reactions to things like this.

"Nii-san," was it just Kyoya or did the boy actually seem... calm in his anger? "I trust that you won't tell anyone about us, please. But if you are against us... then please... leave us alone. And don't ruin us."

There was another minute of silence where they all just stood there, wondering what they were supposed to do now, when Kyoya's brain came back online.

"I won't tell. But... I need to think." and with that said, Hibari Kyoya turned and quickly jumped out of the cold hell that was the twin's apartment. And a second first-time-in-his-life, he ran away like a wolf with his tail between his legs. Well, so much for thinking Tsuna could be his life partner in the future.

The next morning, Kyoya slammed the door open to the twins place, making both boys at the table eating breakfast jump up in surprise, dumped 3 boxes of condoms on the table to show his 'approval' of their relationship, and bolted out the door. (And no he was **not** blushing! He was simply flushed from all the running around he was doing!)

((It took Hibari Komei, Kyoya's father, 3 weeks to find out his condoms were missing. A family meeting was called to find out where they went. The main suspect was Hitomi, but she was cleared when she came out as Asexual, and was firmly disgusted by the thought of sex. She walked out. Next was Kyoya, who decided innocence would make his life easier, and asked point blank "What is sex?" Komei walked out growling, leaving a laughing Ichiyo and a triumphant Kyoya in his wake.))

And that's all for now! See you again soon!


	9. Chapter 8

Holy crap! A new chapter!

Warning, I know it's kind of obvious by now, but OOC Kyoya and OOC Tsuna...

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. If I did, Natsu would so be a real part of the show, and a definite love interest.

* * *

For some reason Tsuna wasn't too sure about, he walked a few steps behind Kyoya and Natsu carrying all three of their bags in his thin arms. He watched as both of his brothers walked up the stairs with murder in their eyes, and he could only sigh. Honestly, what the hell was wrong with these two? It's like they couldn't live without a fight of some kind. And from Natsu's story, the reason for the fight wasn't even a reason at all! So what if some jackass insulted Tsuna, he was fine with it! It wasn't like words hurt, especially juvenile words that hadn't been said directly to him.

"Just please don't kill him. Or injure him too badly. Remember there are somethings even Kyo-nii can't cover up, and hospitalizing an idiot is one of them." Tsuna said, a general blanket plea before every fight. He went ignored, as usual.

Natsu, as if he were oblivious to Tsuna's plight (and he likely was) pushed open the doors to the gym, walked in with Kyoya on his heels, and shouted at the top of his lungs,

"OI! MOCHIDA! I'M HERE TO GIVE YOU THE BEAT DOWN OF YOUR LIFE!"

And as if that wasn't embarrassing enough, the idiot Tsuna fell in love with continued, "YOU BETTER START BEGGING FOR TSUNA'S FORGIVENESS NOW, CAUSE SOON YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO TALK AT ALL!"

"Oh good god... stop..."

"I actually agree, Natsu, stop yelling. It's rather annoying. Don't make me bite you as well as that herbivore."

"But this is my fight, Nii-san! You promised!"

 **Thud** "I told you to never call me that in public!"

Tsuna chose to ignore them in favour of listening to the whispers around them. After all, it wasn't everyday the Hibari Kyoya was willingly in a group of people. Or near people in general.

"Oi!" the loud voice startled Tsuna into letting out a small squeak, and gather the attention of everyone in the gym. A line of people parted for Mochida to speak to his opponents. "Don't tell me you actually brought your brother along, just to help you whimper away like the pathetic little pervert you are?" and he laughed, his companions joining him in his mirth and Tsuna suddenly realized why his lover was always so ready to fight. Words like that, while still juvenile and not even aimed at him, hurt like a slap to the face and suddenly, the teen was doing his best not to throw the bags on the ground and jump the bastard himself. Tsuna turned to Natsu.

"I take back what I said. Pin him and make him eat those words."

Kyoya folded his arms over his chest and nodded in agreement before he began to stalk forward (because Hibari Kyoya will never simply walk) beckoning Natsu to follow him.

"The rules are simple!" Kyoya said loudly, not needing to shout to get his authority across. (Unlike some Kendo captains.) He continued as he approached the centre stage where the fight was to be held, "When I give the word, you two start hitting each other and I decide when the fight is over. Clear?"

"Hai!" Natsu shouted clearly, settling into a battle stance the older teen had shown him many times before.

"No, this isn't what I wanted! I want a duel to clear Kyoko's honer! You there!" Mochida pointed at one of his followers off to the side. "Get him a Boken!" Natsu and Kyoya shared a look, before Natsu shrugged and accepted the weapon, standing out of his fighting stance to really look it over.

"This fight is for Kyoko. She's the prize. Who ever wins gets to date her!" Mochida said with a leer toward the young girl. He was met with a myriad of boo's and jeers.

"Dude... not cool." Natsu said, a look of disappointment and disgust making a sneer of his lips, at about the same time as Kurokawa Hana said "Jerk." just loud enough to be heard.

"Go!"

And Mochida took off with a shout of 'For Kyoko!' Natsu looked up, dropped the bamboo sword, and raised his left arm, taking the brunt of the force and rolling it away from him. He used Mochida's shocked surprise to his advantage and slugged him in the face as hard as he could, dropping the older teen to the ground. The whole 'fight' took less time than it took the wooden weapon to hit the ground and Kyoya raised his hand.

"Winner: Natsume!"

It took the crowd a good minute to realize what had just happened, Tsuna included. Someone a little behind Tsuna began to clap, and the small teen turned to look over his shoulder while the clapping spread and an applause soon erupted through out the gym. The first to clap was Yamamoto Takeshi, the other "Most Popular" student in class. But there was something behind his smile, bright though it was, something Tsuna couldn't quite put his finger on...

"After all that talk, he get's knocked out in a second, with one hit? So lame..." one of Mochida's followers said, getting nods from just about everyone in their little group. Tsuna looked back to his brother just in time to watch Mochida try to get up. Try to... it seemed Natsu may have broken his nose. There was enough blood on the floor to make a near murder scene.

The kendo Captain tried getting up again, this time managing to stumble to his feet and stay there with the help of his friends who half-walked half-ran to his side. Mochida may have lost some of their respect, but they were still his kohai, and for the most part, they still willing to listen to him.

"What the hell was that?!" Mochida shouted, his words slurred by his own dizziness and by his hand holding back the blood from his nose. "That... That wasn't a duel! I want a rematch!" Natsu and Kyoya shared a look, one that Tsuna read as 'you want to, or should I?' Tsuna raised an eyebrow at the two when they turned his way, shrugging to tell them he didn't care either which way.

Mochida's friends started telling him to reconsider and he was having none of it. "No!" he snarled. "I need to fight him again!" he looked over to Kyoko, watching as she took a step back, one arm raised as if to protect herself, the other hand wrapped tightly around Hana's wrist, looking more than a bit freaked out by the bloodied teen's eyes following her like an animal watches food. Mochida took in a deep breath as if to calm himself, turned to look Natsu in the eye and let it out with the single most hateful spew of words Tsuna had ever heard.

"As if I would let that perverted, mother-killing _freak_ lay a hand on my Kyoko-chan."

Tsuna was running for Mochida before he even had the conscious thought to do it, and landed a duel-footed kick to the teen's back once in range. His feet hit the ground softly as he landed from the flying kick to the bastard, and turned to look to where the asshole now lay. "Get. Up." he ordered, his words laced with an anger no one had heard before, not even Natsu. The kendo team all took a collective step back, then another for good measure. The third step back was just to be safe. (The forth likely wasn't necessary, but they did it anyway.)

Mochida rolled over and turned to face what ever _idiot_ had just kicked him-

-and froze.

Was that really Dame-Tsuna? Sawada Tsunayoshi? The single most useless person on the planet? Because _that thing_ looked a hell of a lot more like the Devil than anything he had ever seen in his life. The same hair as the brunette, the same stature, but that _snarl_. That glare that could put Hibari Kyoya's to shame. Then, as if he wasn't terrifying enough just _standing_ there, the Devil spoke.

"You're going to apologize for saying that, or you're going to regret being born. Your choice."

"Y-Yeah? Or what? You aren't half as strong as your brother!" Mochida failed once again to hide his stutter completely, but at least he didn't look like a total fool. (He hoped.) But then the single most heart stopping thing happened, and Mochida flinched, praying to anyone or anything to save him. He knew, he just fucking _knew_ he was going to hell, and soon, likely.

Because the Devil just closed his eyes, cocked his head to the side, and _smiled at him_.

* * *

Reborn watched from his perch up in the rafters, glee filtering in his eyes as the Chaos that unravelled below him reminded him fondly of the Hell he used to raise when he was their age. Just one minute in, and already the kendo captain had been reduced to tears, both of his shoulders and both of his hips had been dislocated, Reborn learned a few new swear words from the small (but apparently dangerous) brunette, and Tsuna had to be hauled off and away from the now quivering teen by both his brothers.

The slighter teen was breathing heavily, but had stopped trying to rip Mochida limb from limb so Natsu and Kyoya let Tsuna go, slowly and cautiously. Said smaller teen took two deep, semi-calming breaths and darted forward to the surprise of everyone present, sans Reborn. He snaked around the captain's defence (his kohai), snatched the larger teen by his kendo armour he was still wearing (but had done next to nothing to help him), and began to cheerfully drag his kicking and screaming senpai over to the two others, who stood watching in morbid fascination. His kohai did nothing, very possibly too scared to intervene at this point.

"Natsu, Kyo-nii," Tsuna called lightly, in a startlingly sing-song voice, "Look what I caught! I think it has something it wants to say to you. Ne, Ke-n-su-ke-chan?" he enunciated each syllable in the boy's name with a light giggle in his voice, making the captain feel like he was barely even 5, rather than 14. Petrified as he was, Mochida wasted no time and began begging for Natsu's forgiveness, starting a long stream of "I'm sorry, please forgive me, I'm sorry." He couldn't move his body enough to kneel in front of the other, so he hoped his apologies would be enough to save him from his too-close end.

"Ne~? What _exactly_ are you sorry for?" Tsuna asked sweetly, kneeling down to be level with Mochida's head.

"E...Everything I said..."

"And?"

"...For existing?" the older teens voice was shaking and trembling with fear, tears in his eyes, body racked with tremors.

"That's right!" Tsuna said happily, standing to his full height. He turned and gave the terrified teen a light kick to his side, certain that the other wouldn't feel it behind the defence of his kendo armour, and giggled when the other screamed and attempted to scramble away. "And don't you forget it!"

Tsuna began walking away, stooping down to grab the bags he had dropped when Mochida had said _those_ words, and continued on his way, students squishing themselves against the walls to avoid so much as being within 6 feet of the small brunette. As Tsuna approached the doors to the gym his mind sobered from the murder he had felt. Honestly, had Kyoya and Natsu not pulled Tsuna away and given him a moment to think, he really might have killed the older teen.

He walked out the doors without so much as looking at his brothers, knowing they would be following him in just a moment, and came instead face to face with the new transfer student, his wide brown eyes meeting neutral yet cautious green eyes, a fear for his own safety hidden deep within them. Tsuna narrowed his eyes, scrunched his eyebrows together and tilted his head to the right, thinking and trying to figure out why the boy had seemed familiar... even in class earlier today, Tsuna knew, he just _knew_ he had seen that scowl before... but where?

"Oh!" Tsuna exclaimed, pointing a finger at the other teen, watching as the silverette took a cautious step back. "I know where I know you from!" a silver eyebrow twitched upwards, and the taller teen said, annoyed,

"Yeah, I'm your new classmate. Just moved to town?" remembering the near massacre from just a moment ago, Gokudera Hayato bit back the urge to insult the smaller teen's intelligence. But only just.

"Well, yeah, but I was wondering where I knew you from earlier too. But now I remember! Gokudera Hayato." he paused and let a smirk run across his lips. "Also known as 'Smoking Bomb Hayato'. The new up-start in the mafia world."

Gokudera jumped back farther than strictly necessary, pulling out 6 sticks of dynamite and a cigarette at once, magically lighting the cigarette at the same time. "How do you know that?" he demanded, his mouth turning into an angry sneer.

None of it bothered Tsuna, at least, not outwardly. "I know many things, Gokudera-san. Like how I know you're free-lance, but looking for a home to call your own. I know you aren't affiliated with the Familia you were born into, though I don't know why." Tsuna watched the boy's eyes widen, and took a calculated chance. "I also know you were called here by Reborn."

He smirked as Gokudera flinched, _'_ _I g_ _ot it~'_

It was just then when Natsu and Kyoya walked out, and it took all of one half second for the two of them to go from bickering to standing just behind Tsuna, fists and Tonfa raised and ready for a fight. Gokudera tensed, eyes going from shocked to calculating, as if trying to find a way out of this fight that would result in the least amount of injuries. Tsuna almost pitied the boy; his emotions were so clear, it was like the brunette could read the other's mind.

"Come on," Tsuna said, dismissing the angry teen in front of them, "He's smart enough to know he can't fight all three of us at once." and he started to walk away, a mischievous glint in his eye. Judging by the silverette's reaction, Tsuna was right to assume Gokudera-san had been called in. But what for?

"He's smoking on school property. I'll bite him to death!"

"Oh good god, never mind. Natsu! I'm going home. I need out of this uniform." he set Kyoya's bag down by the stairs and began walking away, Natsu not far behind. The sounds of a sudden fight, mixed with explosions and bursts of "Herbivore! Stop destroying school property, and let me bite you to death!" were the only things they could hear for a good 20 feet off school property.

* * *

It was less than a minute after Tsuna was naked, just about to change into his favourite pair of shorts, when his phone vibrated on the bed side table, indicating a text. Startled, Tsuna plopped down on the bed and picked up the phone, opening it at reading the message from one of the 4 people he ever conversed with.

 _'My mother still can't figure out how to text. She wants you two over for dinner. Tonight. -Kyoya'_

He sighed and looked over at his shorts. Those were not dinner appropriate. Heaving a grown he stood again and started riffling through his closet, trying to find something good enough to escape the scrutiny of Hibari Ichiyo.

"Natsu!" he called out, "Come get changed for dinner. Ichiyo-obaasan wants us over."

"I know, Nii-san texted me too." he sighed, ghosting in to the room, and paused in the doorway.

"Well, hello." he said, cocking his head to the side. God, Tsuna was going to kill him one of these days with these surprise attacks of nakedness.

Tsuna blushed, and rolled his eyes. "Just get dressed."

* * *

Finding the proper clothes was one thing, getting dressed with Natsu's distracting kisses and roaming hands were another. It ended up taking the two nearly twice as long to get dressed, if only because Natsu kept undressing him whenever he could.

"Honestly, Natsu. We should have left 10 minutes ago!" Tsuna huffed, readjusting his jacket for the third time.

"Hey. It's totally not my fault. You have a great ass!" Natsu exclaimed, grabbing Tsuna's rear as if to prove his point.

Tsuna sighed and chose to ignore the leering stare and groping hands of his brother, turning to open the door to their apartment instead. He took one half step out and stopped when he came face to face, or rather shoe-almost-to-chest of the hitman who had interrupted their lives. Natsu stopped short of bumping into Tsuna's back, looked down at Reborn, and glared, hands coming up at Tsuna's sides and growled like an overly protective animal over Tsuna's shoulder's.

There was a moment where no one spoke, Tsuna's eyes narrowed, Natsu stopped growling (but stayed where he was) and Reborn blinked, but remained otherwise impassive.

"...I was just about to knock." Reborn said lamely, taking in the brother's state of dress. Semi-casual business like outfits for them both; dark blue jeans, light blue dress shirt, and a thin black cotton jacket for Tsuna and dark brown, almost black pants with a white dress shirt without a jacket for Natsu.

"We were just on our way out." Tsuna said tightly.

"I see that. Where to?"

"Dinner." Natsu barked out, "Could you not stand in the way?"

Reborn raised an eyebrow and stepped off to the side. "By all means." he said, and the twins walked out, Natsu never taking his eyes off of Reborn while Tsuna sighed and turned to lock the door. "I though you said you wouldn't let Natsu eat anything you didn't cook."

"Well, we're not going to a restaurant for dinner, if that's what you're thinking. We'll be going to a friends' place."

"Hibari Kyoya's?"

"Yeah. The Hibari family helped us out a lot over the course of the first few months after mom passed. Kyo-nii's mom became something of a surrogate to us. Every now and again, she'll randomly send Kyo-nii over to make sure we're not dead, and once a month she'll decide that we're coming over for dinner. Like tonight."

"And you get all dressed up for it?"

" **She's scary when we don't."** the twins both shuddered, and stepped onto the elevator. Before the doors closed, Tsuna blocked them, and asked something he was almost sure to regret asking. "Do you... want to come too? They are family, after all... and I don't know about the family as a whole, but we do plan on telling Kyo-nii about our heritage."

"We do?"

"Yes, Natsu. We do."

"Oh... OK."

Reborn hopped on the elevator just as the doors began to close again, and watched the twins bicker like actual brothers. "Sure." he said after a moment, "I'll join you guys for dinner." he turned back to face the doors, letting silence fill the space for a moment, before continuing where he had left off earlier in the day.

"About what I said last night..." he turned to face the two of them, looking up at them earnestly. "I really, truly am sorry for that. It is in no way an excuse for myself, but I had had a long day, I hand not been prepared for any of the information I received, and my mouth got ahead of my brain. I will train you both to be the best mafia bosses to have ever existed, I promise you that. And I also promise that I support your relationship, in every form. In fact, if you need privacy during the nights, I'll have another place on stand-by, and I'll spend the nights there. I will, however, need to be with the both of you as often as I can, I am not called the best for nothing."

He paused as the doors opened for the bottom floor and they walked out, the twins both in silent reflection of his words. After making sure there was no one there with them, Reborn continued. "I'll need to live with you for the most part for two separate reasons, and I want you both to understand my position on this before you out right reject me." he looked back, getting nods from them both, and nodded back to them.

"The first is to assess your growth, individually. For that, I will need to be with you as much as possible, to help you grow the way you need too. The second is because before I am a teacher, I am a hitman for the Familia. You are both potential heirs for this very prestigious position, and as such, you will be targeted, and assassination attempts will be made on your lives. I'm here first to teach and second to protect. Do you understand?" Reborn stopped talking and turned to look at the boys when he realized they had stopped walking.

Heads bowed, they looked even younger than they already were, so much so that Reborn actually wanted to protect them. He was one of the best hitmen in the world. That didn't mean, however, that he didn't have a heart; it was just buried deeper than anyone would think to look.

And these boys knew exactly how to bring it back up.

"So..." Natsu spoke, his voice shaken and small, one hand curled up and pulling slightly on Tsuna's jacket sleeve. "What about what you said... about only one of us becoming the boss, or something?"

Tsuna looked up at his brother, a small smile on his lips, and he glanced around, looking for people on the street they had walked out too. "There's no one here right now." Reborn said lightly, and Tsuna smiled in his direction, before wrapping his brother in a hug that looked every bit as brotherly as one would expect from two grieving twin boys. Reborn had to wonder how much the two viewed as 'too much' if hugging was worry-educing.

"It's OK, Natsu. I have a plan, and Reborn said that he would help us with it. It'll keep us together. For good, I promise!"

"Really?"

"Really! Now, lets go _before_ we end up late for dinner, OK?" Tsuna stepped back and nodded, before looking back at Reborn, Natsu turning with him.

"Are you really going to help us?" Natsu asked, and there was still a lot of uncertainty in his voice.

"That's what I was going to do from the start. Help you two grow." he smirked, watching the determination in Natsu's eyes grow again. (Reborn hated to think of what went on in that boy's head. From super angry to suspiciously calm, then super angry again, then to desolate and finally hopeful again. Seriously, it was like a roller coaster.)

Tsuna started walking again, letting his fingers fold with Natsu's for a few paces, and Reborn followed them, letting the boys lead him.

"So... am I forgiven?" he asked, voice and tone dangerously close to hopeful.

" **No, not really."**

"How come? I gave you an awesome apology, likely the only one I'll ever give in my _life_ and I'm going to help you two." he asked, raising an eyebrow. The tone was lighter now, and when the twins turned to each other, they were smiling like idiots.

Natsu turned around fully, walking backwards with his hands up behind his head. "See, thing is, we may never fully forgive you."

Tsuna spoke over his shoulder, his voice quiet. "You gave a voice to our deepest fear, after all."

Reborn nodded, "That's rational. And here I was thinking it was because you were both assholes." they both grinned and Reborn knew that he had been forgiven, for now, and that was enough.

" **Well, there's that too."**

* * *

Well, that's all for now! This felt like a good place to end the chapter. Any ideas on what Tsuna's plan might be?


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9... holy crap. I honestly didn't think I would get this far! Thank you to all who have reviewed! I love each and every one of you! *throws flamboyant kisses at the crowd.*

Sorry for the delay. Life is complete bs.

* * *

Reborn stared at the man sitting in the large armchair across the room from his seat on the couch, not liking being glared at in return. Hibari Komei, head of the house-hold did not like the fact that this infant was going to train the boy's he'd taken in to become something as vile as a _'mafia boss'._

"No." he said, not at all for the first time that night. Reborn nearly sighed, this man was grating on his already frayed nerves.

"They don't have a choice. No one does." Did he sound as exasperated as he felt? He hoped not, that surely would not help him win the man over. Not that he needed the man, he was just refusing to let the twins leave the house, at all, with Reborn as their tutor.

"There is _always_ a choice. An alternative. Find that, you are not using my boys."

"I've already said that due to their blood line, _there is no one else!_ "

"What about that other kid that their father had back in your home land?"

"His flames don't match up right, and he'll never be able to lead the organization."

"That's bullshit. There's no such thing as something as fantastical as 'death instinct fire'."

 _'This motherfucker...'_ "Dying. Will. Flames." Reborn literally has never wanted to strangle anyone so much in his life, except maybe Iemitsu. _Maybe._

Tsuna looked over his shoulder at the infant, pitying him so much just then. Komei was a man no one could manage to win an argument against, the sole exception of this being his wife. Honestly, Tsuna had hoped that Reborn wouldn't say anything about the whole 'mafia boss training' thing. It would have avoided so much of this bullshit, just so much. Thankfully Hitomi was at Tokyo University, studying law to become something of a lawyer (her exact words were "I'm going to make the leeches of Japan work for _my_ justice."), and not home for the complete melt down her mother was having at Tsuna for his safety.

Because while Komei and Reborn were having their own form of an argument in the living room, Ichiyo was in the kitchen washing dishes with Tsuna, loudly bouncing between panic due to the word 'mafia', concern for the health of the twins, and livid rage that she hadn't been told about this sooner and/or that Tsuna was involved in it to begin with. (Despite the fact that he really didn't have anything to do with the choice, and hadn't known about the fact that they had been chosen over their little brother for a few hours more than a day.)

"I don't understand," Ichiyo continued, bringing Tsuna's attention back to her rather than the poor hitman on the couch. " _Why_ , after all this time, is he bothering the two of you like this? That man has no right to call himself your father, and yet he is pulling you both into this... this... oh! I don't know the word for it!" she was talking loudly to herself more than to Tsuna. Angrily. Tsuna let out a small nervous chuckle, and wondered if Natsu was having better luck with Kyoya than he or Reborn were with their respective adults.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight. Because of your father's bloodline you and Tsuna have to learn to be Mafia bosses, and then fight to the death to see who runs the mafia when you both come of age."

"Yep."

"And your little brother in Italy can't do anything about it, even if he wanted to."

"Yep."

"And your trainer is an infant."

"Yep."

"And you are a complete idiot."

"Ye-Hey! Am not!"

Hibari Kyoya tsked as he turned away, unable to make the younger male admit his stupidity. It was an ongoing thing with them, a game really, that Kyoya would constantly undermine Natsu. And Natsu would do the same, just a little different. The younger male would constantly try to catch Kyoya displaying actual emotions rather than just viciously beating 'herbivores' to death whenever the whim caught him.

Natsu almost always won. Almost.

"But seriously, Natsu." Kyoya said, earning Natsu's attention back on him. "What are you going to do? It doesn't sound like either of you can just back out of this; what do you think will happen when the time comes for the two of you to fight?"

"I don't know... Tsuna says that he has a plan but he says its best I don't know it yet."

Natsu sighed, pulled his legs up to his chest and glared at the small table in Kyoya's bedroom. To Kyoya, he looked the mirror image of his twin when upset and although Kyoya had a thing for Tsuna, it didn't hold true for Natsu. Far too annoying for anything but a brother. Even so, he hated seeing that look of foreboding, and budding panic of that face. Natsu should be care-free, a force to be reckoned with, loud and boisterous. Not this... melancholy.

"I just..." Natsu's voice cracked, and he paused again, coughing into his knees. He buried his face in his knees and heaved a sigh. "I don't know. All I _do_ know is that," he lifted his head, and Kyoya nearly felt his heart break (not that he showed it). Natsu was crying.

"Is that I love him. And I don't think I can live without him. Kyoya... what do I do?" Natsu was whispering his quiet cries, and had re-buried his face in his knees, unable to look at the other anymore, despite having asked him a question.

Kyoya wasn't sure what to do either, so he merely crawled around the table to Natsu's side and leaned his back against the younger male's, offering up what little comfort he could. After a few moments (and sniffles), Natsu pushed back against Kyoya, and said quietly,

"Why are you being this nice to me? I thought I was your rival... for Tsuna, at least."

Kyoya let a small smile creep onto his face. "Because, you are the twin brother of the only person I could ever possibly have any kind of relationship with in the future. Even if you are not Tsuna, I still hate seeing that face cry."

Natsu sat quietly for a moment, taking in the others words. He had always suspected that Kyoya had feelings for Tsuna, though he wasn't sure why or how he knew, and just now... it was confirmed...

"Sometimes... I wish we were just brothers." he whispered. Natsu could feel the back pressed to his stiffen in surprise, but there was no verbal response. Kyoya made no other indication that he had even heard the other speak.

Natsu chuckled, pausing to organize his thoughts. "I mean, as much as I know I'm firmly in love with Tsuna, I can't give him all the love and attention he deserves. I wish I could hold him and kiss him in public, just walk down the street to the store hand in hand with him. I wish we could get married, and show our love to the world... but we can't."

"Because you're brothers."

"Because we're brothers."

"And what? You think I would be able to do better?"

"Well... yeah. It's more accepted for two guys to be together than twin brothers!"

"True. But you're also wrong. I detest all forms of PDA, and therefore, I wouldn't be able to give Tsuna the attention he "deserves"." Natsu slunk back farther than before, sinking under the table.

"But then again," Kyoya continued, "If he were warped enough to like me of all people back, then he wouldn't want that kind of attention."

Natsu laughed, feeling a bit better than before and straightened his back. They sat in silence for the rest of the evening.

* * *

Finally, once Natsu and Tsuna protested that they had school in the morning and that that meant needing to go home to change, Komei let them go, giving Reborn one last glare. It was nearly midnight when they got home, and Tsuna decided that he was going to crash into bed, suit be dammed. Natsu was determined to be a little more mature than that (maybe) and saw to locking up after Reborn left.

"So... um... Thanks for joining us at dinner tonight, I think." the brunette said uncertainly. _'Ahh I wish Tsuna hadn't passed out. He's so much better at this than I am!'_

Reborn nodded and said, "I meant what I said earlier tonight though. That I do need to live with you two at least most of the time. I'll be back tomorrow morning, at 7am sharp." and with that the hitman left, walking towards the stars. With a shake of his head, Natsu closed and locked the door, leaned against it and sighed.

"7am, huh?"

With that, the teen pushed off the door and went to bed, turning off lights as he went. He undressed and started to take off Tsuna's clothes too, and snuggled up once they were both nearly naked and under the covers.

* * *

 _Buzzzt, buzz buzz_

 _Buzzzt, buzz buzz_

 _Buzzzt, buzz buzz_

Tsuna roused himself from his semi-peaceful dreams of screaming senpai's and looked at his cell phone sitting on the bed side table, blinking a little blue light to indicate a new message. Did it just go off? Was that what woke him up? He reached for it clumsily, snatching it just as it went off again. He swung his legs off the side of the bed and noticed that he was lacking the suit he knew he had gone to bed wearing. With a raised eyebrow, Tsuna looked down at his sleeping, snoring brother and smiled. He got up as slowly and as silently as he could to avoid disturbing Natsu, tip-toeing out to the living room before he dared open the text message lest the light from the device wake Natsu. (Though, really, who was he kidding? The other boy could sleep through an asteroid falling on Namimori.)

Of the 4 people Tsuna frequently texted with, he had really met just 3 of them. Natsu, Kyoya and Hitomi. The 4th was someone he had met online, his friend who called herself "The princess". Just such a girl was texting him now.

'Hey, so did you run into Reborn?'

'R U DEAD?!'

'Heeeeeey answer me!'

And the latest text message, which was just so much like her that Tsuna had to sigh.

'The Princess demands a response!'

'The Princess is a very demanding individual.' Tsuna typed back. He went to the kitchen for a glass of water, looking at the clock on the microwave. "5:28... why am I awake at 5:28?" the only conclusion to that question Tsuna could come up with was that the universe was out to get him.

'YOU'RE ALIVE!' was the text he got back, seconds after he sent his own.

'I know, weird right?'

'Like I thought for sure you were dead. When was the last time you were offline for more than a day?'

Tsuna had to actually think about that. 'I... i don't know. It must have been before i really got into learning about hacking.'

'Hmmmmm that sounds like the #27 I know.'

Tsuna smiled and spent the next half hour catching up with her online rather than by phone, telling her everything about his normal-ish life in Namimori and about school, how his brother was doing (without telling her about their real relationship) about the fight and how he scared the living shit out of his school as a whole the day prier. She responded by telling him all about her siblings and how boorish the lot of them are. How dysfunctional the relationship was between her father (who's maturity level rivalled that of a 5 year old) and mother (who was always yelling about something) and how her brothers were all a bunch of asshats who stole her shit.

They never traded any names, and that was fine. They had met online after all. (Tsuna still wasn't sure how she had managed to wrangle out his cell number.)

Her next message that came in was a lot more serious than her others complaining before.

 _'But! Getting back to the subject I wanted to talk to you about, 27. Did you come in contact with Reborn?'_

Tsuna hummed about this. Should he answer honestly, or lie completely? After a minute, he settled for half of the truth and prayed to god she would drop it.

 _'I can't tell you the details, but yeah, I did.'_

 _'Oh! The Princess can smell the secrets you're hiding! Best show them before she get's upset!'_ there was an angry smiley face attached to the end of the message.

 _'Hahaha, sorry, no can do deary.'_ was Tsuna's reply. The next reply came by text message, and it seemed even more serious than her e-mail.

'Are you safe though? For real. I have a little influence in the mafia, i can help you.'

Tsuna felt a warm smile creep onto his face, and he texted back, 'Aweee do you actually care about me, princess?'

There was some rustling to the side as Natsu wormed his way into wakefulness, stepping out into the living room and waddling over to the bathroom. His phone went off again, a new message of 'It's 'THE' princess to you!' but Tsuna decided that as much fun as princess was, he would much rather snuggle with Natsu. Maybe they could catch a shower together before they start the day?

He typed a quick response and joined his brother in the shower, a smile on his face.

'There is a 90% chance that Reborn will not kill me. Bye!'

* * *

There may have been a 90% chance that Reborn would not kill him, but that didn't mean that the young hitman _sent_ by the fabled killer would do anything _but_ try to kill him. Specifically. While Natsu was in basketball practice.

"You may be strong, but there is no way that I will let you become the next head of the Vongola!"

And from there, the silver-haired bomb-shell went on about how Tsuna was unfit because he was born a civilian, and how he was a twin so there would be issues with birth right and it'd be simpler with him, blah blah blah. Honestly, Tsuna was just waaay to tired for this shit. So he did the only semi-sane thing he could think of.

He interrupted the other teen, who held sticks of dynamite in-between his fingers, by sighing and walking away. There was a game Natsu had to prepare for, and Tsuna was going to watch him by _any_ means necessary.

"Oi! Wh-where are you going!?"

"To watch my boy-er.. my brother shoot large balls at tall hoops. If you really want to fight me, take it up with Reborn, it's not my fault you were miss-informed." he turned to the glowering boy, to the hate he could feel driving into the back of his skull. "Only someone with the blood of the first can become the next boss." he said coldly, watching as the other flinched and looked down.

 _'So, he's aware that he can't be Vongola's boss... so why is he so caught up in getting the title?'_ he wondered as he fully faced the teen. Tsuna took to studying the silver-haired boy for a good minute, watching as he puffed on his cigarette, dynamite still in hand, ready for anything despite his stance relaxing from before. A thought came to him and he pondered it, turning it over in his head before settling on a realization that made him smile a little.

"Gokudera Hayato, you aren't actually going for the title, are you?"

Gokudera's eyes narrowed in suspicion and he brought his weapons toward the cigarette again, readying himself for anything. Tsuna watched those green eyes swirl with thoughts and speculations and continued, "You love the Vongola, but you don't actually want to be the boss. You just want to be accepted by someone you know is a capable leader. Someone stronger than you. That's why you challenged me, right?"

Gokudera looked down, suspicion disappearing. He nodded after a moment before looking up with a scowl. "So what? I know I can't be the boss, but I'm done following people who can't be trusted, people who are weaker than me."

"Good." Tsuna said decisively, nodding at the other's determination, "Then you can come join our family. Natsu is going to be the boss though."

For some reason, this seemed to flabbergast the bomber.

"Wh-what?! You! You can't just ignore a challenge for the title of boss, and then invite me into your family like my challenge never existed!"

"He's right, Tsuna." Reborn said, popping out of literally no where to stand between the two. "You can't just ignore something like this, it's against Vongola rules."

"Really? Hm... What if I yield all rights to be boss to my brother?"

Both hitmen blinked.

"He... He can't do that, can he, Reborn-san?"

"Uh... yeah. He can, but only because he's a twin, and we're insiders, not outsiders. To the people outside of Vongola, yielding all rights wouldn't be enough."

"Then it's settled!" Tsuna said with a grin, turning around and clasping his hands behind his back. "Come on, Gokudera Hayato-kun! You can challenge Natsu to a fight after his basketball practice is over."

* * *

20 minutes later

* * *

Practice was over before too long, mainly because someone caught Natsu looking over at Tsuna and his 'companion' sitting one row back and four feet to the left, and told the player to 'quit staring at his useless brother, and get back to drills'. Said someone ended up with a basketball firmly in his face courtesy of Natsu's angered throw.

The older teen left in tears accompanied by two others, Natsu was yelled at by the couch for his anger issues and told that one more incident and he would be benched for the next 3 games, and practice ended there with the threat of everyone being there an extra hour early tomorrow morning.

"And if you don't get here on time, it's 2 laps around the gym for every minute you aren't here!" Which of course was met with groans by everyone, and the old man continued, "Blame your team 'star' if you hate it so much!" and promptly began to walk away, barking orders to clean the gym until it sparkled.

Five minutes after the guy was gone, Natsu was all but abandoned to do the cleaning himself, and Tsuna skipped down the steps to meet his brother, conveniently 'forgetting' to remind everyone that the couch's version of on time was 10 minutes early.

Oops.

"Hey." he greeted his lover.

"Hey." he got in return, a kind smile painting itself across thin lips.

"Hey." Gokudera also greeted once he too reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey- wait! Who the hell are you?" Natsu's smile disappeared as confusion coloured his face instead, taking an unconscious step forward between Tsuna and this unknown 'stranger'. Tsuna pushed down on the fluttering butterflies in his stomach that sprung up when his boyfriend protected him out of pure habit, and said incredulously, "Natsu, this is the new transfer student in class, Gokudera Hayato, remember? We nearly fought him yesterday?"

The sweaty teen, face still flushed from practice, quirked an eyebrow at his brother, then closed his eyes and hummed in concentrated thought. Tsuna could almost see the fat little hamster running its hardest on its little wheel in Natsu's head as he thought about the new student.

"Ah!" Natsu exclaimed, pointing a finger at the silver-haired teen as if suddenly remembering him. If there was ever a time Tsuna dearly wished they were not related in anyway, it was _riiight_ about now...

"You!" the idiot continued. "Why are you with my brother? If you're trying to hurt him I'll kill you!"

Gokudera blinked, then shot an incredulous look at Tsuna, one that clearly said, _'_ _You're giving all rights to the title to_ this _?_ _'_ But rather than actually saying it, he just turned back to the taller teen (taller than the half-Italian, damn it) and began to reiterate what he said to Tsuna. Before he even started, however, uncertainty crossed his mind again, and he ended up blurting out a half hearted challenge.

"Uh... I challenge you for the title of the tenth!... I can't do this, it just feels so wrong. I mean, I already challenged you, older-twin, it feels so weird to be turned down and then challenging the younger-twin."

He sounded just so distraught and bored at the same time, Tsuna almost wanted to pity him. Before he could encourage his twin to fight, Natsu turned to him leaned in and whispered (loud enough that there really was no point in whispering at all) "Do you know what he's talking about?"

Tsuna blinked at his brother, ' _Is he always this slow and I just over-look it because I love him, or is it just because he used his brain_ _too much at practi_ _c_ _e?'_

"Just... just fight him. I feel like I need a drink. An alcoholic one. A _strong_ one."

Tsuna shook his head as he walked away, intent on forgetting what all had just transpired and looking for the First Aid Kit. He watched the two shrug and walk towards the entrance to the gym, taking the enviable battle outside (thankfully).

A 5 minute fight, more explosions than Tsuna could count, and three near-knockouts later, Tsuna began coaxing them to go to the infirmary as the kit was nowhere near enough for all their scrapes.

"Are you satisfied?" Tsuna asked softly, putting a small gauze bandage on Gokudera's hand where and explosion sent a small, sharp rock just close enough to cut him. They had gotten to the infirmary within seconds of Kyoya meeting up with them to ask what the hell had happened to _his_ school. Natsu was taking care of that one.

"...No." the Italian said, but judging by the excited sparkle in the teen's green eyes, and the exhilarated smile still plastered on his face, Tsuna could tell he was lying.

* * *

{In my head the greeting seen was more like;

"Domo~." Tsuna, in a sing-son voice.

"Ya." Natsu, in a flirty tone.

"Oosu!" Gokudera, in his own delinquent-greets-his-boss kind of way.

"Oosu- te, mate! Dareda omae?" Natsu, greeting in kind, then realizing that he didn't know this 'stranger'.

I found this scene so funny in my head, I nearly chocked on my coffee. At work. In front of people.}

Sorry for how late this is, but I love you all so much!


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10... wow... who would have thought that I would get this far, huh? Also, this story has been up for a year now, can you believe it? Holy Crow!

* * *

"The weirdest thing happened to me today."

"Oh yeah? Besides fighting someone who uses dynamite? And then trying to explain that to our demon of a disciplinarian?"

Tsuna had just set dinner on the table for the three of them when Natsu spoke up. The boy had been unusually quiet for the evening, not even playing his games, just almost mechanically watching the T.V. Tsuna had figured if his brother wanted to talk about it, he would bring it up himself, and Tsuna was right. The moment Tsuna had joined Reborn and Natsu at the dinner table, the solemn teen blurted out his worries.

"Yeah, this happened right after gym class, before practice. Right after Gokudera called you out... Yamamoto came up to me and asked for my advice." with his eyes narrowed at his udon and his lips pulled into a pout, Tsuna couldn't help thinking him adorable. But in any case, that _was_ weird. Despite the two both being amazing at their favourite sport, they never really talked to each other or became 'friends'. They had their own fans, so they never really interacted, and never really needed to. So for the baseball star to actually ask Natsu for his advice...

"That's weird... what about?" The twins paid no mind to the hitman, slurping down the udon without so much as an 'itadakimasu'.

"About the slump he seems to think he's in."

"Really? Even weirder..."

"Yeah." Natsu picked up his chopsticks with a shrug of his shoulders, mumbled a quick thanks, and dug in. Tsuna sighed, said his own thanks and began to eat too. "So what did you say?" he asked after a moment.

"To who?"

"Yamamoto."

"Oh! Uh... that he should keep practicing, but not over work himself... he ran off with a smile on his face, but I can't help feeling like something bad is going to happen."

"Like what?" Reborn piped up for the first time since he had intruded in on the twins after school. They both turned to the hitman, Tsuna with surprise and Natsu with question.

"Uh..." Natsu's eyes rolled upwards and he tapped the ends of his chopsticks against his bottom lip in thought. "Like... he's gonna over work his body, maybe? I don't know." Natsu went back to eating and Tsuna tried to pick up the conversation with Reborn.

"Why do you want to know?"

"No reason."

Tsuna narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but dropped the topic as the hitman went back to his dinner. By the time dinner was almost done (seconds were gotten by all three) Reborn asked the question that had both preteens chocking on their noodles.

"So do you two have sex?"

The twins damn near died that day.

* * *

The second the twins walked in to class the next morning, Gokudera on their trail, Tsuna noticed a change in the air. Something was... off. Natsu seemed to notice it too, and they both looked around the room from the doorway, trying to identify what ever that 'something' was. There was a large crowd surrounding Yamamoto's desk and before Tsuna even thought to check it out, Natsu was pushing his way through.

"Oh! Natsume! What's up? You-"

"The hell happened to your arm, man?"

Tsuna looked back at Gokudera, chocolate brown meeting jade green, and they mutually shrugged. ' _I'll leave this to Natsu.'_ Tsuna thought, and started toward his desk, the bomber in tow. He continued listening in though, always attentive to Natsu in every way.

"Haha, yeah. Remember how you told me not to over do it?"

"Yeah?" Natsu sounded so suspicious, Tsuna could _feel_ it.

"Hahaha, well... I didn't listen."

"Oh man..." Tsuna wished to god he could see their faces as he sat down at his desk, but he knew that if he tried to worm his way to the stars, he would be pushed down, and then Natsu would explode (and maybe Gokudera too, now), and then Yamamoto would end up without the talk Natsu seemed to want to have with him. So the teen sat down, Gokudera leaning against his desk, and waited anxiously.

"How bad is it?" that was Natsu's concerned voice.

"Ah... not... not that bad, really." and _that_ was a lie. Tsuna could hear the lie so clearly, it hurt. What hurt worse, though, was how the crowd reacted to the lie.

"That's great! Get well soon, man, there's a game coming up and we need our ace!" the boy who said it then laughed and the rest of the people there did too. Just then the teacher walked in and the group dispersed throughout the classroom, leaving only Natsu standing at Yamamoto's desk.

"Natsume-kun," Nezu-sensei said in a curious tone, causing all heads to turn his way. "What are you doing? Class in about to start." Natsu looked like he didn't even hear the teacher, instead grabbing Yamamoto by the upper bicep on his good arm and lifting him out of the chair in one quick move.

"Lets go somewhere to talk, Yamamoto." Natsu said, completely ignoring the others protest as they stood. Tsuna's eyes widened as he saw the cast and sling his arm was stuck in, and he swiftly caught Natsu's eyes. There was a moment where the two shared a single thought, that Natsu needed to talk with the taller teen. A subtle nod from Natsu, one Tsuna returned and Natsu pulled Yamamoto out the classroom door.

"Hey, wait!"

"Yes, Natsume-kun, wait! I'm just about to-"

"Don't care!" and Natsu was out the door, Yamamoto in reluctant tow.

Nezu-sensei watched at the door close before snapping his attention to Tsuna, sitting innocently at his desk. "I'm not sure how," the teacher began, "But I know you are involved in this somehow."

"Right," Tsuna replied, "Because I have complete control over what my brother does, and I just pull him around by this tiny and invisible leash that I attached to his collar. Every time I pull too hard, he yips in displeasure." he said in such a monotonous voice and dead pan stare that Gokudera, who moved his seat to be closer to both his bosses, laughed out loud.

* * *

Natsu let go of Yamamoto's arm before the door was even shut from the classroom, and he nodded toward the other end of the hall. Yamamoto raised an eyebrow, but plastered on his fake smile and followed the shorter teen. They reached the top of the stairs in front of the roof door before Natsu turned back to Yamamoto. He stood there, leaning against the wall and staring at the baseball player, an attempt to get the other to talk.

"Haha... um... what do you want to talk about?"

"How bad is it really? You don't have to lie to me, Yamamoto, I'm not fake like they are." Natsu tried to sound kind, but being compared to the fake people that hung around the two of them, even if he himself did the comparison, hurt more than Natsu could put into proper words. Their classmates were very horrible people; they didn't actually give a shit about the person they supposedly idolized, just the fame the person held.

The fake smile Yamamoto held trembled, shuttered slightly, and nearly shattered after a moment. He looked down to the floor, his shoulders shaking, and without looking up the teen slid down to the floor. Natsu slid down to the floor opposite his classmate and waited for a response. He didn't have to wait long, though Yamamoto never looked up.

"A stress fracture caused by too many over-extended throws... or something. Nerve damage." he paused and Natsu could hear the tears the other was crying, and he turned away to give the teen a moment of privacy.

"Doctor says... it m-might be permanent."

Natsu raised a hand to his mouth, trying to contain his shock. "Might be...? So you could still-"

"No... no you don't get it. Even if I do heal, it won't be in time for the game everyone wants me to win. And what will happen if I don't heal right? What if it's permanent? My life is over, Sawada. There's no career for me with permanent nerve damage. There is no one who'll still be here for me if I can't heal in time for this game, and if it's all over, then who'll-? I can't-"

"Stop."

Yamamoto clamped his mouth shut so fast Natsu heard his teeth click.

"Take a deep breath and think about what you were going to say. Not for my sake, but for yours. I won't ever judge you, and I'll wait as long as you need." Natsu said, as kindly as he could. He tried to emanate his brother with his tone, attempt to connect on a level he had never even wanted to with anyone but Tsuna. Something about Yamamoto's defeated tone and body language told Natsu that the teen really needed a friend, a real one, more than anything right now. He waited a moment, watched the other breathe deeply for a solid minute before trying again.

"Where was that line of thought going? Take your time, but please tell me." Natsu was calm, as calm as he could be, despite his intuition telling him something awful was about to come to light in the next few minutes.

"... I'm useless without baseball. There's no point in being alive, taking up space and air, if I can't play." Yamamoto curled into a ball, speaking without looking up at Natsu.

Natsu held back his gasp of surprise and instead stayed quiet, remaining still and open, listening for if Yamamoto said more. His intuition was right. The tall teen glanced up at Natsu from over his arm on his knees, and said weakly,

"You aren't... surprised?... so, you agree with me-"

"No. I don't think you are useless without baseball. And I don't think anyone is a waste of space, no matter who they are. If I did, we wouldn't be here right now, would we?" Yamamoto had looked up entirely face displaying his disbelief, eyes wide in shock and jaw dropped enough to leave him miming a sort of half strangled gasp. Slowly, his features morphed back into sadness, and he dipped his head back down, tears silently falling. Natsu waited another minute before he scooted closer, sitting next to Yamamoto against his wall instead.

"I..." Yamamoto began, then paused to take a deep breath. He felt like saying this admission aloud would solidify how weak he felt, but with Natsu's silent support beside him, he let out all his insecurities.

"I was going to jump today. From the roof... at lunch. If there's nothing left for me here, then why should I stick around?"

There was another long moment before Natsu spoke up, reviling a piece of his soul here too. "I get that."

"How? You have basketball, and your brother. You're not alone."

"Neither are you, Yamamoto. You still have your dad. And I've thought about it too. Ending it all..."

Yamamoto turned to look at the shorter male, resting his temple against his wrist. "Oh, really?" he snorted.

"You sound like you don't believe me." Natsu sighed. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "But yeah, really. After mom died, and dad took everything from us... If Tsuna wasn't there to help me survive, then I... I would have killed myself a long time ago."

Yamamoto laughed out a snort, saying, "Well then. Don't we make quite the pair? We're both screwed up..."

"We're human... by definition we are _meant_ to be screwed up. What fun would we be if we were all boring and the same?"

There was another long moment of silence, one neither teen was really willing to break. Yamamoto turning back to rest his head on his knees, heaving a small huff of breath, and took in the quiet presence beside him. There were foot-steps on the stairs behind them, slow enough not to startle either teen but close enough that they could tell it was someone coming towards them.

"Why are you herbivores out of class?"

Hibari Kyoya stood at the top of the stairs, his presence looming over the two sitting by the wall. The two of them let out small, nervous chuckles and prayed that he wouldn't bite them to death for this. Yamamoto especially hoped the other wouldn't attack a guy in a cast. But the older teen just stood there, leaning against the railing, not quite glaring (and definitely not smiling) before he sighed, reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper and a pen.

"This is the phone number for the best nerve doctor I know." he said as he wrote on the small paper. "Give him a call between 5 and 6 tonight and tell him I told you to call. If there is any kind of damage there in your arm, that man will almost certainly fix it for you." he handed the slip of paper to the stunned baseball player and turned to the other tall teen on the floor. "Natsu, take him home for the day. I doubt he would be able to concentrate on school with such horrible thoughts plaguing his mind. Even I know that mental illness can be just as debilitating, if not more so, than a physical illness." he turned back to Yamamoto, "Be back to school tomorrow though. I mean it."

"Kyo-nii! Are you being _nice_?" Natsu feigned surprise, one hand coming up to his mouth to hide his smile. It was swiftly replaced by the end of a tonfa and with a huff, Kyoya began to walk away. Yamamoto scrambled up onto his knees, the hand from his good arm reaching forward and a sound of worry left his throat as Natsu doubled over in pain, clutching his face with both hands.

"Yamamoto Takeshi." Kyoya said from the bottom of the stairs, looking up at the two. He waited as the other looked back to him. "I may classify everyone I meet into either herbivores or carnivores, but I do not think any of them are useless, or a waste of space. I may not like very many people, but even I am aware that they are here on this planet for a reason, even if no one knows what that reason is." with that, he gave a curt nod, turned and walked away.

* * *

Reborn had been listening in on this conversation, and came to the conclusion that Natsu, while academically not the brightest, he was a real and true leader. He knew when to shut up and listen, and when (and what) to say. And the best part? It was all by instinct. It looked like Tsuna's plan would go down even better than Reborn thought. It just went to show that Tsuna knew his twin that much better than Reborn.

He smiled as he watched the two athletes walk away from the school, Natsu pulling out his cell to (presumably) text Tsuna, tell him about where he was going. He followed the two teens into Takesushi, for a moment forgetting that that was Yamamoto's father's restaurant, and hunkered down for a while to listen in on the conversation. It got Reborn thinking though, about Natsu, and the peculiar situation it put the twins and the hitman in.

10 bullets.

That's all it would take to give Tsuna the Talking Skull disease, get his body to force the seal on his flames to open and give him the ability to fight with his dying will. But Natsu didn't need them. When Nono had visited them when they were small, he realized that Tsuna's flames were so bright and strong, they needed to be sealed for his own good. Natsu's flames, while not weak, were not showing the signs of going wild like Tsuna's and therefore didn't need to be sealed. Reborn had a sinking suspicion that that was why one brother was more athletically inclined than the other. Actually, that would also explain why Natsu had a sharper intuition than Tsuna.

That said, Natsu still couldn't access his flames at will, but the Dying Will bullet would likely kill him, so that was out. There wasn't much else he could do, aside from surgery to forcefully strengthen the boy's bones... ugh, why did Tsuna not want to be boss?! He was smart and strong, he could be perfect!

Why couldn't life be simple and let Tsuna be an only child?

* * *

Less than 10 seconds after Tsuna received a text from his love, stating that he was taking Yamamoto home and thus would likely be gone fore the rest of the day, he was walking out the door with Natsu's, Yamamoto's and his own bag in his hands, ignoring Nezu-sensei's shouts at him for "Interrupting the class with his leaving" bullshit. He flipped the teacher the bird, causing the man-child to nearly roar in his fury as Tsuna walked out, gracefully not giving a flying fuck. If Natsu wasn't here, neither was Tsuna; simple as that.

He felt Gokudera's presence beside him rather than heard him as they walked down the hall. That didn't mean, however, that he wasn't startled when the bomber spoke up.

"Is there something wrong, sir?"

"Hii!"

There was a long pause as the two teens stopped and stared at each other, Tsuna's face darkening a deeper scarlet with each quick breath he took, and Gokudera's showing his amusement mounting with each passing moment.

"Sir? What was that-"

"Nothing! That was nothing! You heard nothing!" Tsuna's cheeks puffed out, almost of their own accord, and to Gokudera's never ending amusement, the much shorted teen squeaked as he swiftly turned to walk away. He smiled, trying to hide a snicker as he walked behind the very easily embarrassed brunette.

It took a couple of minutes, but Tsuna eventually pulled enough courage out of thin air to cough into his hand and ask,

"So... wh-why did you call me sir? 'Tsuna' works fine." no, Tsuna did not just stutter, really! (And he may just dis-member any who dare disagree with that.)

Gokudera jolted in surprise, "Because anything else would be far too insulting, sir! You may have dropped all rights to the title, but that still means that you deserve respect. You are Juudaime's brother!"

Tsuna stood still, blinking and staring at the taller teen for a moment. _'Does he even hear himself when he speaks? Isn't he embarrassed?'_ "...Alright..."

Tsuna turned on his heel and continued on, walking out the front of the building, Gokudera once again on his trail. They didn't get very far before the bomber asked again if there was something wrong.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well," Gokudera looked down as he contemplated how to answer. "You got a text, then we were up and leaving the room with their bags. Was there a fight Juudaime got into?" then his eyes widened almost comically and his head shot up, "Did that other guy Juudaime took out of the classroom jump him?! Is he ok?! I should have been there for him! I-"

"There wasn't a fight, I'm sure. If there was, he would have called me to tell me all about how he had won it."

"Oh... does he brag a lot?" Tsuna raised an eyebrow to Gokudera as he turned to face the other.

"No, not really. Just with me. I suppose it's because I'm the only close family he's got left, so he wants my approval and praise." he paused, trying to peer into Gokudera's very soul through his eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm going to be Juudaime's right hand man... but I don't really know him all that well yet, and I wanna know more, so I can be better for him. Be a better guardian for his needs, you know?"

"Hmmm? Really?"

"Yeah..."

Tsuna could feel a horrible jealousy ripple up his spine, even as his smile stayed in place. It wasn't fair. Why should this person, who knew nothing about Tsuna's brother, get to be _hi_ _s_ right hand man? It should be Tsuna! It should be _Tsuna_ who got to be at Natsu's side for every fight, _Tsuna_ who got to help Natsu at every turn in the Mafia world, _Tsuna_ who got to keep Natsu rational when things got tight, _Tsuna_ who could always just _be there for him_...! But no. They were twins, so even if Tsuna didn't have to die for the sake of keeping Natsu alive, Tsuna wouldn't be allowed to be near Natsu. After all, twins in the cruel world couldn't hold the same title at the same time...

But Gokudera? He could. He got to stand by Natsu at the worst and best of times. He got to help Tsuna's beloved at every turn the Mafia world forced him down. Gokudera got to keep Natsu calm when things weren't working out.

 _Gokudera_ got to do all the things Tsuna would willingly give his life for.

 _'It's not fair...'_

"Come on." Tsuna said to Gokudera as they walked around a corner, smiling when all he wanted to do was crawl in a ditch and cry. "I have a fairly good idea on where we'll find my brother. Yamamoto-kun lives next to his father's sushi restaurant, and Natsu said he was taking Yamamoto-kun home so..."

"So we go to Yamamoto's sushi restaurant. Good thinking, Sir."

"Yeah, I thought so." they shared a laugh, and Tsuna wondered if had ever needed to pretend to not want to kill someone this much ever before.

* * *

Gokudera had joined them for dinner that evening, the bomber praising Tsuna's cooking almost more than the smaller teen could handle. However, not two seconds after Reborn and Gokudera made their leave, and Tsuna had locked the door behind them, Natsu trapped Tsuna against the wall, kissing him hard. Tsuna trembled with the force of it, sighing after a moment and wrapping his arms up around Natsu's neck. They stayed like that for as long as their lungs would allow them, pulling apart for air but remaining just as close.

"I needed that more than I thought I could bare." Tsuna breathed out, nuzzling his nose to Natsu's. The other smiled in agreement, nodding slightly before moving in for a smaller peck on the lips. Natsu pulled back a touch then, his hands trailing their way up Tsuna's back to tangle in perfect brown locks, and he took a moment to take in his brother's pure caramel eyes, the cute shape of his nose, the slight differences between them that no one would ever really see.

"Tsuna... I'm so in love with you." no matter how many times Tsuna heard the endearment fall from Natsu's perfect lips, his breath still hitched and his heart still skipped a beat. Butterflies fluttering in his stomach and a shy smile turning his lips, Tsuna dipped his head into Natsu's neck and said softly, "Me too..."

Something was wrong, though, Tsuna wasn't sure what or why. They stayed like that, snuggled close against the wall with no intention to let go in either of their minds. Tsuna decided to move the two of them toward the couch, despite not wanting to move at all, and sat himself in Natsu's lap. It was his favourite seat, and Natsu had never once complained about it, tightening his arms around Tsuna the moment they were settled.

"So? What did you and Yamamoto-kun talk about?" Tsuna asked softly, keeping his voice low as if they needed to whisper a secret in a crowded room with only the two of them there. Natsu was silent for a long while, so long, Tsuna leaned back to get a better look at his lover's face. "Natsu? What's wrong baby?"

"...suicide." The word was mumbled, and distorted by tears Tsuna could see held in Natsu's eyes, but the smaller teen caught it still. That didn't mean that the word, small and simple though it was, didn't leave Tsuna speechless. Not knowing what else to say or do, despite his breaking heart, Tsuna leaned up in Natsu's lap and wrapped his arms around his brother's head, letting the other cry silently into his chest. The story seemed to spill from Natsu's lips seconds later, and Tsuna felt the tension leave the others' shoulders by the time it was all out.

"Really, if it wasn't for you... I wouldn't..." Natsu cut himself off by snuggling into Tsuna's chest farther. After another moment, Tsuna pulled back again and held his brother's face in his hands.

"Natsu," he said quietly, "You never, ever have to think about if I'm not here, because I'm never, ever going anywhere. You hear me? I swear on mom's grave that I will never leave you, and I will never not love you."

Natsu nodded once, kissing Tsuna's jaw and relaxing the rest of the way into the couch. "I need a shower..." he mumbled after a moment.

"I wasn't going to say anything, but... yeah, you do..." Tsuna teased with a smile on his lips.

"Hey!"

Tsuna laughed, standing from his brother's lap and pulling Natsu with him. "Come on, let's take that shower together, yeah?"

Despite the tears still staining his cheeks and the puffy redness around his eyes, Natsu's grin still managed to take Tsuna's breath away.

* * *

Sorry, for all the sadness and depression in my stories as of late. My own depression is starting to really hit me... but! I am starting a new chapter of my life, and I will continue to write on, no matter what! Love you all so much! And remember to write me a review!


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11! I have no excuse as to why this is so late, other than it just would not come out of my brain. I'm sorry.

* * *

"Tsuna! There's a cow at our door, and I don't know what to do about it!"

"There's a _what?_ "

Tsuna threw his dish towel on the counter and walked over to the front door, joining his brother there. They were getting ready to go to sleep, both wearing their favourite pyjamas, Tsuna was just washing the dishes from dessert when a knock sounded and Natsu went to answer the door. Tsuna figured it was Reborn (maybe he forgot something?) but that was quickly thrown out the window as Natsu's voice called to him. Dishes swiftly forgotten, Tsuna was... stumped to say the least.

While not actually a cow, there was a small child in a cow-print onesie and an Afro nearly double the size of the child's head. Adorable large eyes, greener than Gokudera's, the child had one hand raised to his lips, a look of curious wonder practically spilling from him.

"There's two of you?" He asked and Tsuna smiled.

"No, we're twins." He crouched down to be eye level with the boy and continued. "My name is Tsuna. This is my twin brother Natsu." Natsu waved over Tsuna's shoulder and leaned forward a bit as well, smiling a wide grin. "Can you tell me your name, and what you are doing here at my front door?"

The boy's arm suddenly shot in the air and he announced in a squeaky voice, "Lambo-sama's name is Lambo! And I was sent here by my father to kill Reborn! Now let me in so I can kill him!" Tsuna's smile widened as Natsu abruptly turned around, a muttered "What? Oh my god, that was adorable!" falling between his small huffs of laughter.

"Of course, you can come in!" Tsuna said kindly, "But Reborn isn't here right now, would you like me to take you to him instead?"

"Oh, he's not here?"

"No, he's in another apartment."

"OK! Then Lambo-sama demands that you take him to his target!"

Tsuna's smile widened again, almost to the point of hurting his cheeks when he heard Natsu's laughter increase with the words, "Oh my god, I gotta video this kid; he's so cute!" The smaller teen stood and offered his hand to the boy,

"Come on, I'll take you to him."

"OK!" Lambo took Tsuna's hand and together the three of them left for the elevator. (Natsu was trailing behind with his phone, making a video that would later be called "That time that I thought that little asshole was cute".) They reached Gokudera's door, apartment 509, and Natsu knocked. After a few moments, Natsu tried again, louder this time.

"I heard you!" Came Gokudera's voice through the door. "Keep your panties on! I'm coming!"

"Well, _someone_ doesn't like to be disturbed at 10:30 at night." Natsu muttered. Tsuna chuckled and tried to bite back his laughter as the door swung open and an angry looking Gokudera glared out, one hand up on his head holding back his dripping wet hair, a towel around his neck. The 'I'm-just-going-to-bed-what-the-hell' look was completed by a thin white tank top, and baby blue boxer-briefs.

"What the fuck do you-... Juudaime? Sir? What are you two doing here?" The teen's tone backtracked so quickly; Tsuna couldn't contain his laughter any longer, and he let out a loud laugh. Pink dusted lightly across Gokudera's cheeks and he tired (and failed) to hide his exposed lower half behind his door.

"Sorry you have to see me like this, I-I wasn't expecting you to come up- was there a reason for your late visit?" Gokudera swore he had never been so embarrassed in his young life.

"Yeah, is Reborn in?" Natsu asked, his own amusement at the action crossing his lips.

"Uh, Reborn-san? The door is for you!" Gokudera called back into the apartment, a squeak leaving his throat and causing his blush to deepen. He coughed into his hand self-consciously before he dared to even look in the twin's direction. That was when he saw _it_.

"Lambo Bovino! What are you-!"

"AH!" Tsuna looked down at the suddenly screaming child pointing to his new friend, "It's you! Aho-dera!"

"What did you call me?!" And seemingly with all his embarrassment gone, Gokudera launched forward, chasing a suddenly running Lambo through the hall. The twins, though firmly in love with each other, could still appreciate a good-looking ass when it was parading through the hall, zig-zagging to catch a 5-year-old boy.

"AHA! Got you!" Gokudera exclaimed, ass in the air as he bent at the waist to pick up the flailing child. The twins blinked in unison, cocked their heads to the left then, and said together,

" **Damn."** Because Gokudera's baby blue boxer-briefs left _nothing_ to the imagination when stretched like that. Blushing scarlet red, Gokudera straightened quickly, tugging at his thin tank-top to cover more of him than the shirt was able. He darted past the twins without looking back once, past Reborn who had joined the twins at the door and dumped the child onto his couch.

"Goodnight." He squeaked as he closed his bedroom door, planning on dying of embarrassment there rather than in front of the twins. Tsuna looked at Natsu, saw the grin that matched his and they linked hands, turning to skip their way passed Reborn, into the living room. They passed Lambo on the couch before they said in a sing song voice,

" **Gokudera-kun~ lets play!"** ** The twins stopped at his door and knocked gently.

"Hello?"

"Anyone in there?"

It took a minute, but after some rustling of fabric, Gokudera emerged from his bedroom, sweat pants hanging low on his hips and a t-shirt on his torso. One hand on the door to open it, and the other in his pocket, the boy looked like he was more than ready to close the door and sleep. The twins had a better idea.

"Yes?"

"Aw! Look Natsu! He's blushing! Isn't he cute?"

"So cute, Tsuna! So cute!"

" _Is there something I can do for you tonight?"_

"Natsu, I think he's mad about our visit."

"Tsuna, I think you're right."

Reborn, watching the trio with growing irritation, sighed and supressed the urge to shoot the three of them. He looked over to Lambo Bovino, the small annoyance asleep on the couch, thankfully passed out almost the moment he was forgotten there. He hoped the twins hadn't come solely to drop him off and run.

They had.

* * *

The next morning, Tsuna was interrupted from reading his favourite novel by knocking. Irritated (It was _just_ getting good) he went to the door and opened it, still in his pajamas from the night previous, greeting the two standing in his door with a blank face.

"Hi."

"Hello, Tsunayoshi-sama!" Gokudera greeted enthusiastically, last night's embarrassment apparently forgotten entirely. Reborn offered a half-hearted wave.

"Why aren't you dressed? You're going to be late for school." The hitman asked; his irritation was palpable. Tsuna decided to speak his next words carefully.

"Because I'm not going to school? I've gone nearly all this past week, I'm staying home today. It's Friday, so it's not like I'll be missing much." Tsuna said with a shrug.

"Not likely. You're my student now, and I say you'll be going to school." Reborn really didn't like this attitude the young brunette was giving him, and considering the _thing_ the twins had dropped off last night, causing Reborn to lose almost a full hour of sleep? He let himself into the apartment, letting his killing intent fill the space quickly. He leveled Tsuna with a glare and a cocked gun.

"You have precisely 1 minute before I shoot to kill. Get dressed."

Precisely 1 minute and 10 seconds later, Tsuna stood in the elevator, dishevelled but dressed for school, his bag in one hand. Both his bento box and stomach were sadly empty, but at least he had managed to shove his book into his bag.

"So, where is Juudaime? Did he leave earlier?" Gokudera asked, looking rather distraught. Despite not even a week ago claiming that Natsu didn't have the qualifications to be a boss, the silver-haired teen seemed to be quite the adorable lost puppy without Natsu around.

"Yeah, Natsu had early morning practice. He left around 5:30, which _is_ earlier than normal, but I think he just wanted a bit of alone time to work out away from the prying eyes of his coach." The coach wasn't always the best person to work out near; the man was almost always critiquing everything Natsu did, on and off court. Tsuna shrugged. "It's fine though, I made him two bento for his extra effort."

"You made him two, but forgot your own?" Gokudera asked, incredulously. The elevator doors opened and the two stepped out. Tsuna stared up at the other teen, a scathing look in his eyes.

"Yes, since I wasn't planning on going to school, I didn't make one for myself." He said irritably. He turned away after a moment, taking a deep breath to calm himself. After all, it wasn't Gokudera who had spoiled his day. Tsuna looked down at the hitman walking about half a pace ahead of them. _'It's his fault I'm not on my couch reading my book.'_ He thought with a mental growl.

Gokudera held a hand up to his mouth to hide his amused smirk. For someone who could go from neutrally bored to pycho-crazy killer in 0.2 seconds - _and back again_ – Tsuna had a rather adorable "angry" pout. Almost as if reading his fellow hitman's thoughts on Tsuna's habitual murderous moments, Reborn asked,

"So, Tsuna, who taught you how to fight?"

A sudden grin came to Tsuna's lips as he looked down at his supposed tutor. "Ichiyo-obaasan."

"And how does a stay-at-home mother of two know how to rip people apart? Also, why?" The hitman continued. Gokudera looked between the two; he had been wondering the same things, but he'd always been just a touch afraid to know the answer. Tsuna was terrifying; the man (or woman, apparently) who taught Tsuna must be made of nightmares.

Tsuna laughed, (though 'Laugh' may have been a touch too nice a term for how utterly _evil_ and misplaced it sounded coming from the brunette.) and looked back up to the road.

"That's a secret for another day, I'm afraid."

Before Reborn could ask further on that (or think about weather he actually wanted the answer or not) the group was joined by an enthusiastic jogger with one arm in a sling by the name of Yamamoto.

"Yo! Sawada, Gokudera! Walking to school? Mind if I join?" The baseballer intoned, slugging his one free arm around Tsuna. The reaction from Gokudera was immediate. Tsuna brought up a hand to cover his ear as the bomber inhaled.

"GET YOUR HAND OFF TSUNAYOSHI-SAMA'S SHOULDER!"

Tsuna took to ignoring the explosive teen and looked over Yamamoto for a distraction. His skin looked a sickly gray, but it was a bit brighter than the day Natsu stopped him from suicide; his smile looked the same though. Watery, fake, bordering on breaking from Gokudera's yelling. He looked at the hand over his other shoulder and took in the shaking in his fist. Hell, despite laughing and egging Gokudera on, Yamamoto was shaking almost to the bone. They were walking with Tsuna between the two but after a couple paces, Tsuna couldn't take the yelling.

"Hey." He interrupted, pulling an extra step ahead of the other two and pausing, bringing the group to a halt. "Are you OK, Yamamoto?" He asked as he turned to face them.

"Haha! Right as rain, Sawada, thanks!"

Tsuna narrowed his eyes. "How's the arm?"

The boy flinched, his shaking growing to a degree that even Gokudera noticed. His smile faltered, but stayed fake on his lips, never once reaching his eyes. "It's fine! I went to the doctor that Hibari-senpai told me to go to, and he said that I'd heal just fine."

"You don't have to lie to me, Yamamoto. It's OK. How is your arm really?"

'Shell shocked' would likely be the most accurate way to describe the way Yamamoto's face and shoulders sagged, though his smile took longer to fade. He looked down and his shoulders started to shake even more, enough that Tsuna started to wonder if the boy was crying. But then he looked back up, bursting with loud and genuine laughter, a hand on his stomach.

"You and Natsume really _are_ twins!" He exclaimed, mirth in his eyes.

"Well, of course they are, you idiot!" Gokudera huffed with less bite than Tsuna would have thought. Tsuna just cocked his head to the side, waiting for a reason for the outburst. (He hoped that this wasn't the start of the boys' decent into insanity, but it looked like it had started some time ago.)

"Natsume, he said the same thing to me. The exact same thing. That 'I don't have to lie to you.'" He said, a real smile on his face as he calmed down. "I'm sorry," he continued. "I just… I'm still not OK, up here." He knocked against his head, eyes closed and his head tilted to the side a bit to meet his knuckles. "I didn't lie though; my arm really will heal just fine, in about a month. I was just hoping to catch Natsume on the way to school, but from the looks of it, he left early, huh?" Tsuna smiled.

"Yeah, he left around 5:30 or so this morning."

Yamamoto whistled. "Wow… not even I get up that early."

Tsuna chuckled and looked down at his watch, "Come on, if we hurry, we can catch the end of his practice."

* * *

They didn't make it for the end of the practice, but they were able to walk Natsu to class – and boy, was Natsu surprised to see Tsuna there, standing by the door of the changeroom, waiting for Natsu to come out. His face lit up like a thousand suns, and he exclaimed,

"Tsuna! You're here!" As he jumped forward, only stopping himself from scooping his petit brother up in a hug due to the presence of other people. _'Damn them.'_

'Other people' consisted of Yamamoto, Gokudera, Reborn (hidden for the time being and whom really didn't care about their relationship) and about half the female population, looking for a chance to walk with Natsu to class. They were brushed to the side, of course, as Natsu joined his brother and the others standing and waiting.

"Hey, Natsu. Have fun?" Tsuna asked conversationally. Natsu grinned and nodded vigorously, and said proudly,

"I got in 5 whole extra sets before the others arrived." He grinned like the accomplishment was metal-worthy. Tsuna matched his grin.

"Nice."

Natsu caught himself just as he was about to grab Tsuna's hand and distracted himself by looking at the two trailing behind them. He leaned in close to Tsuna and whispered loudly,

"Don't look now, but I think those people are following us." Indeed, Yamamoto and Gokudera were following them, but they were hardly people to be weary of. Tsuna laughed out right.

"Don't worry about them, I invited them to walk us to class."

"Oh, ok."

As the twins laughed, Yamamoto tilted his head to the side again, toward Gokudera, thinking. "Ne…" He asked quietly. Gokudera snarled a "what?" in his direction, but kept quiet as well, though he really didn't know why.

"Natsume acts different with his brother around." He said curiously. "That's… weird, right?"

"They both act different when they're together."

"And you don't find that weird?"

"I guess not…" Gokudera shrugged. "I act different when my sis is in town. Don't you act differently with your siblings?"

Yamamoto's smile froze as his shoulder's stiffened. "Haha, I wouldn't know. It's just me, my dad and the restaurant."

Gokudera caught onto the tough act the moment the other spoke but decided to leave it for now. Yamamoto hopefully wouldn't be around them all that much longer, and Gokudera had other, more important people to keep his mind occupied.

(Despite the distinct feeling like the other male had nearly the same childhood tragedy as he did, concerning his mother. Gokudera didn't let that feeling get all that far though. Really.)

* * *

Sitting in class was one thing. Paying attention in class was another. And Tsuna was doing neither. No, the moment the teacher walked in, looked at Tsuna sitting quietly in his desk, reading his book before class, Nezu kicked him out.

"What? I'm not even doing anything!" Tsuna cried out, indignantly.

"You're reading a book that isn't school material." Nezu said with a sigh, setting his own work material down on his desk.

"Before class starts!"

Nezu then leveled him with the driest look he could manage. "You, Sawada Tsunayoshi, are the single most disrespectful, demeaning, rude, and underhanded child I've ever had to teach and I am done with it. Get out of my classroom and stay out. You can either walk yourself to the principal's office, or I will take you there myself."

So Tsuna went on a rampage, pacing in Hibari Kyoya's office rather than the principal's, relenting the story in full.

"I mean, can you believe it? He just sent me away! And I still don't know why! Ugh! This is why I hate this place!" He flopped over on to the couch, facing the perfect and relented a moment. "No offence." He added.

"None taken."

"Really?"

"Well," Kyoya said with a sigh, flicking his eyes to Tsuna for the first time since the small brunette walked in unannounced, but looked back to the paper work as he started to speak. "There are bad teachers who don't understand how to teach every child in their classroom. Then there are teachers who excel in teaching and they can help every student, even children outside of their own classroom."

He looked up pointedly at Tsuna, "And then there are students who just suck at being students."

They stared at each other for a long moment, neither impressed with the other's statements.

"No offence." Kyoya mocked. Tsuna huffed and flipped on the couch, turning his back to the perfect and opening his book to read in silence. The silence only lasted about half an hour before Kyoya spoke up again, not looking up from his work.

"You know, you've never given me a proper response."

"To what?"

"To my confession."

Tsuna raised an eyebrow at his book but didn't look up. "What confession?"

Kyoya sighed, and Tsuna could _see_ the annoyance on the other teen's face without even needing to face him. "The confession of my… _feelings_ about a month or two after your mother passed." He said, tone irritated.

Tsuna turned then, and looked at Kyoya with narrowed eyes, face twisted into thinly veiled disgust. "That was a _confession?_ " He repeated and sat up. "You practically tongue-fucked my mouth on your bed, while Natsu slept a few feet away. Without my consent. I've never been so violated."

"In my defense, I didn't know about you and Natsu back then."

" _Without. Consent."_

Kyoya shrugged, still not looking up through the entire conversation. "I was young. I'd never liked anyone like that before. That was the only thing I could think of to convey my feelings."

Tsuna blinked at the other, sitting at his desk as cool as could be, and shook his head. "You are so going to Hell."

"At least you'll be with me." Kyoya remarked with a smirk. Tsuna rolled his eyes and flopped back down on the couch with enough force to move it an inch to the side. With glaring eyes, he remembered something that _just_ might force a reaction out of the perfect.

"By the way, it was that kiss that helped me realize I was in love with Natsu." He said with a sly smile. Kyoya froze at the words, reacting the way Tsuna planned. To any who didn't know the teen like Tsuna did, he barely twitched, but Tsuna knew to look at the lines of his shoulders (tight and taunt, like he was ready for a fight), the curve of his spine (slightly straighter than a second before) and his jaw (clenched and trembling so slightly). Finally, Kyoya turned from his paper work to fully face the slighter teen on the couch.

"And just _how_ did that happen?" Tsuna heard the growl in the other's voice before he spoke, and it amused the brunette to no end. Tsuna chuckled, a musical sound to Kyoya's ears (though he was reluctant to admit it even to himself).

"Well. Walking home from your place with Natsu, I tried thinking on why I had felt so _violated_. It took me a day or so, but I figured it out. I felt so _completely violated by your kiss_ because it wasn't Natsu that kissed me." He said the statement rather melodramatically, but it did wonders for Tsuna's personal amusement. Kyoya didn't do _shame_ , but his lips were twisted in a scowl and his eyes were on the floor, and that was enough for now. Tsuna continued.

"Then it took me about a week to ask Natsu."

"Ask him what?"

"To kiss me. For a theory."

"Uh-huh."

Tsuna's smile turned almost lecherous as he nearly slid off the couch in bliss. "And we haven't stopped since."

Kyoya tisk'd as he turned back to his paperwork. "I hope you fall off that couch, split your head open and go to Hell."

Tsuna righted himself on the couch and replied, "I'll see you there."

There was another couple of minutes of pause that Kyoya broke again, "You still haven't answered me."

"I thought punching you so hard your head dented the wall next to your bed was enough of a rejection."

Kyoya shrugged. "I thought it was foreplay."

Tsuna shook his head again and went back to his book. It was a little before the bell for lunch to end that the brunette even realized what time it was, and that Natsu hadn't come around yet. Blinking to attention, he watched Kyoya stand and slip his jacket over his shoulders.

"Where are you going?" He questioned, lifting an eyebrow at the other.

"The principal paged me. There's a trouble-making trio that was sent to him for reprimanding that he feels would be best handled by me."

"Oh." Tsuna replied, turning back to his book before Kyoya had even finished the first sentence. The perfect paused at the door.

"Are you coming?" He asked sharply, standing at the door and waiting.

"Nope." Tsuna said, popping the 'p' on the word. He flipped the page loudly, and still didn't look up.

"Natsume…"

Tsuna stumbled as he rolled off the couch at the sound of his brother's name. With an embarrassed cough, he straightened his shirt. "Well? What are you waiting for? Let's go." He said on his way out the door. There were multiple other herbivores around, and that was the sole reason Kyoya didn't laugh out loud.

They were most of the way to the office when Tsuna turned to Kyoya. "So, what about Natsu? Did the page message tell you anything?"

Kyoya shrugged. "All I did was say his name. I have no idea who is in the principal's office."

Tsuna halted in the hallway and blinked at Kyoya's back. "I hate you." He said as he caught up to the demon.

"And yet here you are. Following me, all on your own."

"Maybe I'm on my way to the principal's office _all on my own_. It's been a while since I checked in on him."

"'Checked in on him', huh? You mean with the blackmail and extortion?"

"Hey, it's only blackmail now. It'll be extortion when I get him to erase me from school." Tsuna said with a decisive nod. Kyoya huffed a laugh, (so unusual to hear, it all but broke the passers-by who heard it.) and replied,

"I know you're following me."

"What's your proof?"

"The fact that you didn't turn down that hall back there. I'm heading to the washroom first." He said with a smirk. Tsuna turned bright red and puffed out his cheeks.

"You're mean, Kyoya."

"Thank you."

* * *

"Ah, Hibari-kun? Come in!" The principal's voice sounded older, and more tired than normal, and Tsuna took that to mean that whom ever was in the room with him had been there a while and was getting on the old man's nerves. The first person Tsuna saw was Natsu, sitting in front of the principal's desk, looking for all the world bored with whatever the men had been telling him before they arrived. The next two were Yamamoto and Gokudera, the first looking sheepishly at the principal's desk, the latter looking so much like Natsu it was funny to see.

Then there was Nezu, standing over the old man's desk, and looking particularly purple in the face. And somehow, Nezu turned even more purple when Tsuna stepped in the room. He began screeching about Tsuna ruining everything he had ever worked hard for, and for Natsu's outburst during class.

He went widely ignored; Tsuna was far more interested in the fact that Natsu really was there after all.

"So, what brings you to this office?" Tsuna asked as he walked up to stand directly behind Natsu's chair. Natsu's head was craned all the way back to better see the approach and found that, despite the angle making him dizzy, Tsuna could look hot from anywhere, doing anything. Even walking. It was crazy. Natsu in all his Tsuna- gazing, forgot he was supposed to answer and was a little surprised that Yamamoto spoke up.

"Natsume, Gokudera and I were trying to figure out where you had gone to lunch, when someone made a nasty comment about you and your mom. Natsume blew up, Gokudera followed suit when the fight pulled in more than just Natsume and the kid who said it, and I got dragged along with them here." He shrugged, "Which is fine, I don't mind, haha!"

"Nezu-kun, you never told me that there was a reason for the commotion. All you told me was that they were here for attacking a student." The Principal said, and air of distrust marring his grandfatherly voice. He turned to directly address Kyoya. "If I had known there was a reason, I wouldn't have called you in, Hibari-kun. I apologize for taking time out of your lunch. I thought there was a baseless fight that needed to be taken care of, and I was miss led."

Hibari nodded.

"That's still no excuse for putting another child in the hospital! I demand that they all be expelled, now!"

"All of them? But according to the story, only Gokudera-kun and Sawada-kun were the ones to throw punches here."

"Doesn't matter. I was going to suggest that Sawada Tsunayoshi be expelled in the coming days anyway. He is nothing but a trouble-making delinquent who doesn't belong here at this school." Nezu said sharply, starring at the offending brunette. Tsuna continued to ignore the man in favour of looking over Natsu's minor injuries – namely the small scrapes on his knuckles.

"So what kind of comment did this other kid make to get you to rage at him like some rabid attack-dog?" Tsuna asked as he knelt in front of his brother. He pulled a large band-aid from his back pocket and gently took Natsu's hand in his.

"Don't ignore me, you brat!" Nezu screeched. He was ignored anyway by all.

"… nothing you need to worry about." Natsu finally said, turning to face away from Tsuna. With a pout, Tsuna narrowed his eyes and continued working, pulling a random anti-bacterial wipe from his back pocket to clean the small cuts.

"If it's nothing, tell me about it." He said, testing Natsu's reaction. He watched the lines his brother's face, the way his eyebrows bunched together in concentration, or anger.

"No." He said sternly, looking Tsuna in the eye. "You can't know." He turned a glare at Gokudera, then at Yamamoto, almost as if telling them not to tell Tsuna what the hell was said. Tsuna cocked an eyebrow at Natsu's reaction, but let it slid for now. He knew how to make Natsu tell him anything – once they were alone.

"Tsunayoshi-kun." The principal called from behind him, causing Tsuna to look away from his brother with a deep sigh.

"Yes?" He questioned innocently, head tilted to the side. The principal shivered.

"I-It's just that I need to know what was said by the other student to start this fight. If the answer is reasonable enough, your brother and his friends can go with a light suspension, instead of being expelled. But Sawada-kun won't say it with you in here. Could you go wait in the hall until we are done in here? I know we need to… talk." The principal's voice shook just the tiniest amount, and the sound made it very hard for Tsuna not to smile evilly.

"Oh, no. Don't worry about that." He said calmly, waving a hand dismissively, "I was going to call you tonight about our… agreement. Alright?" Tsuna turned without waiting for a response, and looked Natsu in the eye, holding eye contact for a solid 30 seconds.

"I'll make dinner after you tell me what happened tonight. Ok?" Natsu knew that smile was really a threat in disguise, and the only thought in his head as he nodded was just how much shit he would be in when he got home. Kyoya reiterated the sentiment once Tsuna was out of the room.

"You are in so much trouble when you get home. Can I come watch?"

Natsu slid his eyes toward the perfect, a whole-hearted glare none in the room, save Kyoya, had seen before. "No," He said as his glare sharpened. "You can not come and watch my brother torture me for information." Kyoya almost pouted.

"I think I'll come anyway." He said. "I haven't eaten anything Tsuna has made in a while."

"Would he really torture you for information though?" Yamamoto asked, tilting his head to the side. "He looks so small and sweet." Gokudera looked at him incredulously.

"You _were_ in the gym when he tore apart that Kendo guy, right?"

Natsu rolled his eyes at the young men bickering on either side of him, but turned away, back to the principal. "You can Expel me if you want. I don't care. He got what he deserved."

"But Natsume-kun." Nezu began with a sigh, taking a brave step forward. "He said some small slight about your brother. That is no real reason to break his arm and put him in the hospital."

Natsu's glare sharpened again as he focused on his teacher. _"A small slight?_ He made the accusation that Tsuna _killed_ our mother!"

" **He what."**

* * *

** For this part, I was thinking of a pair of cutesy twins rather than the ones from _'The Shining'_ no matter how creepy I accidentally made them.

I have a problem. I know what I want to do for Xanxus, and Bykuran, and even the inheritance arc and the Arcobaleno thing too… but Mukuro… Damn him! Suggestions? _**PLEASE?!**_ Also, I'm really sorry this is so late. Literally every sentence was stuck in my head. (The part between Tsuna and Kyoya came easy though.)


	13. Chapter 12

Mirror Ch. 12! (Anyone ever think it would get this far?)

Lol I didn't. I also didn't think I would have so many people favouriting/ following/ reviewing this monster! Yay! Also, Sorry it's really late. My Tablet died, and although I was able to get most of the information off of it before it had to be trashed, I don't have the same writing system on my laptop as I did on my tablet. So now, I can only write most of my stories on the computer at work, during my one midnight shift a week. (I'm bad, cuz this shits not allowed. Whoops)

* * *

" **He what."**

"Yeah." Natsu said as he turned to Kyoya, watching the taller male simmer in his rage. "He actually said that. That Tsuna had poisoned our mother for no reason, other than to avoid going to school!"

"Really? My, oh my, I need to speak to his parents." The principal said, rubbing a hand over his chin. "Why on earth would he say that?"

"Probably because the sentiment is shared with the teacher." Gokudera piped up from his seat. He gestured with his head at Nezu. "Hell, you were encouraging him."

"What? Why on earth would you say that?" The principal turned to a suddenly sweating Nezu and really looked, narrowing his eyes. "Nezu, what have you done?"

"I've never done anything!"

"You kicked Tsuna out of the room just because he was there!" Natsu yelled, standing so suddenly his chair fell over. "Every time my brother comes to school, you're relentless in bullying him! It's no wonder he never wants to come!" Then Nezu, the idiot, sealed his own fate.

"I've never said anything that wasn't true."

Kyoya sprang forward, tonfa out and lay into the man twice. Once on the head to knock him out, and again, just because he was angry enough to actually want to hurt the man, rather than just punish him. The principal sat, watching the spectacle with a close eye before turning to the rest of the small group.

"You all are allowed to go home for the remainder of the day," he said as he picked up his desk phone, "I need to make a call for another teacher to come in for a while. Hibari-kun, I hate to ask, but could you escort this man to the infirmary?"

Hibari glared down at the man at his feet, his lips turning up in a sneer of disgust. The principal took this as a 'no, Hibari would not take him away,' so he set the phone back down and added casually, "You know, he's already unconscious. I doubt a couple more bumps on the head will make much difference. And there are a lot of stairs from here to the infirmary to bump his head on."

Like a magic charm, the demon's lips turned from a sneer to a genuine grin as he grabbed one of Nezu's legs and began dragging him away, letting the door slam on the unconscious man's head a moment before actually closing it properly. The principal turned back to the boys in front of his desk, all standing and on their way out the door, and called for the one boy to pause.

"Ahh Sawada-kun, could you please stay a moment longer? I need to ask you something."

Said teen paused halfway to the door, blinked a couple times in a look so innocent, the principal wondered if he really was the twin of the little monster that had left a moment before. Now, the principal was sure that deep down, really deep down, Tsunayoshi was, _possibly_ , a good boy. If he would ever actually get rid of those photos then the principal would likely have a better understanding of him, but as it stood, the boy was extorting all of the mans' money from the last year. His savings were nearly empty, damnit. There was next to nothing for him to retire on anymore.

Natsume wondered back to his seat, waving off the concerned looks from his two friends, and stared the elderly man down as the other two teens left to wait out in the hall. The two sat there, staring, and the principal all but lost his nerve to ask Natsume if he knew about the photos, and if they were actually being destroyed. Those eyes just looked so innocent – surely he hadn't seen them. The boy wouldn't be able to look clearly in the elderly man's eyes if he had. They were, after all, pictures that would ruin his image in so many ways.

"How… how are you and your brother fairing? Are your grandparents taking good care of you? I know losing your mother so young must be so hard."

Natsume's eyes trailed from the man's down to the large desk, then fell to his hands resting on his lap. "It… It is hard." He nodded, "Some days hurt more than others. But Tsuna… he makes every day easier." He shifted in his seat uncomfortably, glancing up at the much older man. "Can I go now?"

"Yes, I just wanted to know how you two were fairing. I like making sure my students are alright." This wasn't an outright lie, he really did like making sure his students were alright – he even checked in on a few that had shown great promise, or that were problem students that he had taught in the classroom years before. Natsume smiled a small tilt of his lips up at the old man.

"No, you don't. You just want my brother to destroy those pictures." And that said, Natsu left the older man to join his friends, chuckling at the old man as he did. Natsu wasn't entirely stupid, he knew some of how his brother earned them the money they needed to live by, he just didn't know the whole story, or the details. Tsuna had said that he didn't need to know everything, just that Tsuna would take care of the two of them, forever. And Natsu more than believed him.

He walked in between the two other males (bickering, for some strange unknown reason) as they made their way to Kyoya's office to gather Tsuna and the demon himself, and maybe invite them all to the twin's apartment for dinner.

And maybe, just maybe, that would allow Natsu to actually eat tonight without telling Tsuna what had happened.

* * *

Tsuna was about halfway back to Kyoya's office to retrieve his bags before going home when he was interrupted by a baby falling onto his shoulder.

"Hiee! Reborn?! What the heck?!"

"And yet another adorable sound from such an insane young boy."

Tsuna pouted up at the infant, then huffed and looked away. "I hate you." He muttered. Reborn tilted his head as Tsuna started walking again, and said in a low tone,

"Would you still hate me if I told you what that other kid said?" Tsuna paused, tilting his head toward the hitman and turned calculating eyes to his.

"Maybe I would hate you a little less. What did he say?"

With his own calculating gaze Reborn leaned in and whispered what the little snot said, word for word, and watched as the young teen's calculating eyes turned cold. Reborn's whole intention in telling the small brunette what was said was to figure out how far Tsuna would actually go. He had seen the chaos that the brunette had caused against Mochida Kensuke (who still had yet to return to school) and how well thought out his plans for the future were, but what would he do to a student already in the hospital for saying essentially the same thing as Mochida, just directed to Tsuna instead?

With gentle hands, Tsuna reached up and grabbed Reborn, setting him on the ground and straightening up as he turned away. "Could you go grab my bags from Kyo-nii's office? I'll meet you at home. Thanks." And he walked away with an expression even Reborn had troubles reading. Anger was definitely evident there, anguish too… and something else Reborn couldn't quite place.

With a shrug, Reborn turned and started toward the aforementioned office. It was a dull response, but it wasn't entirely unexpected. Tsuna was far more protective over his brother than himself. And really, the kid was already in the hospital; what more could Tsuna do anyway? Reborn should have thought this though a little more. It would have been so much more fun watching Tsuna get the information out of Natsu.

* * *

"You told him _what_?!"

It wasn't really what Kyoya had been expecting to hear upon opening the door to his office, and he was just about to defend himself (though he wasn't sure about what yet,) when the infant hitman tutoring the twins spoke up.

"Well, that was a cute sound at the end there. Have you taken lessons from your brother to make that squeak?"

Natsu groaned and started for the door, grabbing Kyoya's hand on the way. "Come on, Nii-san." Kyoya opened his mouth to protest the name and the treatment when Natsu continued. "Tsuna knows what was said before I could calm him down. He's going to kill that kid."

Kyoya's eyes sharpened at the words, and he immediately started a quick jog down the hall, pulling his cell phone from his pocket. "How in the Hell did he find out?"

"Reborn told him." Natsu said as he easily caught up and kept pace with the older teen. Kyoya looked over his shoulder at the infant and the two other herbivores that were following them down the hall.

"Damn it." He seethed, and began texting Kusakabe to take over his patrol for him due to a family emergency. Thankfully there were no other students in the hall but them, so Kyoya didn't have to worry too much about being over crowded as they jogged.

"What was so wrong about Tsuna finding out? It felt like something that he needed to know." Reborn defended, interest peaked. Now he had no intentions of apologizing at all about letting Tsuna know, but he did want to know why the two were acting like this. Wasn't Natsu keeping this from Tsuna to stop it from hurting him?

"Hey, where are we going?" Yamamoto asked as he caught up to them, interrupting Natsu's answer. Reborn wanted to hit him for that, but he settled for making him falter when he jumped onto the tall teen's shoulder.

" **The hospital."** Kyoya and Natsu answered in unison. Natsu continued as they took a sharp turn. "But you guys don't have to come. Just bring our bags to Gokudera's. We'll come get them after!"

The two burst out the front door and pitched into a much faster run than before, all but leaving Gokudera and Yamamoto in their dust. Reborn only barely managed to jump from one tall shoulder to another before the two were completely out of sight.

"How long ago did you tell him?" Kyoya asked as he looked over at the infant he suddenly hated a lot more.

"About 20 minutes before you all showed up. Now, why the hell was that a bad thing? Tsuna is a big boy, he can handle a few mean words."

"Yes, well." Natsu began. "A few mean words insinuating such a thing as _murdering our mother_ are going to cause Tsuna to act out."

"Act out? Meaning what?"

"You saw how he practically murdered Mochida, right?" Kyoya said as the shifted onto a back alley that would be a faster route to the hospital. Natsu nearly stumbled as his arm was yanked in a different direction from where he was going, and Reborn nearly fell off. (Not that he would ever admit that.)

"So what? Mochida had it coming, and this kid is already in the hospital. What all can he do?"

" **Kill him easier."**

They said it in unison, and with such conviction that Reborn realized the mistake he made. Would Tsuna really kill him, just over a few words? Why? What would cause him to stress so much that he would willingly kill a peer from school over a few abusive words? A thought hit him hard, and it chilled the blood in his veins.

 _How did Nana die again?_

* * *

They found Tsuna walking out of the room the child had been sent to, strolling along as casually as you please, a small smile on his face and his hands in his pockets. The unrecognizable expression from before was gone, and Reborn felt his cold heart freeze. Were they too late?

"Tsuna!" Natsu called as they got closer. They had run the entire way, and Natsu's legs just about gave up as he crashed into his smaller brother, Tsuna barely keeping them both up right. Reborn hopped off Natsu's shoulder and watched Tsuna blink in innocent confusion before he smiled a slight tilt to his lips and hugged his brother back.

"Hey… what's wrong? Why all the panic?" he asked as he tilted his head to watch Kyoya enter the other student's room.

"He's gone." The stoic teen said as he came back out. Natsu leaned back and held Tsuna by the shoulders, looking into his brothers eyes as long as he could.

"What did you do?" Natsu asked solemnly.

"You make it sound as if I killed him." Tsuna said with a chuckle. He extended his own arms up under Natsu's, letting them snake around his twin's neck as he pulled himself closer. Thankfully, Kyoya's presence had startled away most everyone in the wing, and the hallway was quiet. When Natsu didn't answer and instead merely continued staring Tsuna sighed.

"I didn't kill him." He said softly, and Reborn let go of a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Tsuna continued. "His parents were here to take him home when I got here and I knew I had some things on that little bastard's father, and I managed to convince them, _nicely_ , to consider moving to Tokyo. They move next week."

"You got them to move? All because of a stupid thing the kid said?" Reborn said incredulously, because who the hell would move with just the words of a kid their own son's age?

Tsuna smiled down at Reborn and nodded. "Well, that, and the other thing." He backtracked.

"What other thing?"

"His father is the reason mom lost her job that one time." Tsuna said pleasantly and turned back to Natsu. "Do you remember when mom looked like she had been about to cry back when we were 9?"

Natsu tilted his head back as his arms dropped down, almost unconsciously wrapping them around his brother tighter as he thought back to happier times with their mother. "Oh… oh yeah. I know what you're thinking about. Yeah… that was him?"

Tsuna nodded, a sad smile on his lips.

"And if his parents weren't there?" Kyoya's voice was sudden, and it startled the twins a bit. Tsuna turned then, just enough to look over his shoulder.

"What about that?"

"What would you have done, if there wasn't someone else there in the room?" Reborn caught on to what he was asking, and his eyes widened. Yes, what would this seemingly homicidal child do if faced with such a situation?

Tsuna smiled. "Well, I still wouldn't kill him." He turned back to Natsu, eyes intently staring at his larger lovers. "Too many people nearby to witness, and then I would be taken away from Natsu for murder and I would never see him again." He laughed, and waved a dismissive hand in Kyoya's direction. "And, you know, murder is bad."

It wasn't what Reborn wanted to hear, so he asked a question himself after it looked like Kyoya wouldn't. "And if you could get away with it? Make it look like an accident, or of natural causes? No witnesses?"

The other two in the hall stiffened, Kyoya's eyes sharpening as he turned to Tsuna, praying in his head that Tsuna still wouldn't do something he feared the short brunette would. Tsuna's eyes turned sad as he faced Reborn and after a moment he left Natsu's arms to walk up to the hitman and settle down in a crouch in front of him with a soft and sad smile.

"Even if he had killed mom himself, even if he held a knife to Natsu's throat, I wouldn't kill him. I would make him wish I had, but I wouldn't kill him. I wouldn't because I know in my heart that the burden of killing someone would be too much for me to bear. Even with the blood of a mafia don flowing in my veins. I just… wouldn't be able to go through with it." He stood and turned back to Natsu, eyes hard and sad and his smile was little more than a thin line.

"That's why you'll be the leader and not me. You always have been and always will be stronger than me." Tsuna ended the sentence with a brighter and more sincere smile and walked back up to Natsu, looking around as he did. When he reached his brother, he pressed a quick peck to Natsu's lips and stepped back.

"Well? Shall we go home for the day? Or are our bags still at school?"

Natsu smiled back, his hands in his pockets as he said, "I asked Gokudera and Yamamoto to bring our bags back to Gokudera's place. I thought we'd invite them over for dinner?" Tsuna's smile widened to a grin and he turned to Kyoya, who for the bulk of the conversation was as silent as ever.

"Before you even ask, the answer is no." Kyoya said as he leaned back, arms crossed over his chest.

" **But** Kyo-nii/Nii-san **! It'll be fun!"**

"No. It won't. There will be far too many herbivores there for my liking."

" **Boo. You're no fun."**

"Whoever told you I was 'Fun' lied to you. Now, I'm going home, and if you-"

"I'll make cold udon."

Kyoya froze, halfway turned away from the twins, and Reborn watched as the demon of Namimori's face all but lit up at the sound of his apparent favourite food. "…fine."

Tsuna and Natsu cheered and high-fived.

* * *

"By the way," Tsuna began, the three of them (plus Reborn) nearly halfway home. "Did you guys _really_ think I would kill someone over a few nasty words?"

Neither Kyoya nor Natsu would meet his eyes. Reborn laughed as Tsuna tisk'ed and rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, you two…"

"Well," Kyoya began, "You _are_ taking lessons after my mother…"

* * *

"Just bring our bags to Gokudera's. We'll come get them after!"

Gokudera watched as his boss and some rando ran off after Tsuna with Reborn on Natsu's shoulder, their backs disappearing around a sharp corner. He blinked after them, one hand raised and his jaw slack. Did he… did he really just get ditched?!

"Haha… well, let's get these bags to your place." Yamamoto spoke up from beside him, and started toward the main gate. Gokudera looked down at his hands, surprised to realize that he had actually remembered to grab his own bag along with the twins two. He looked up at the tall idiot walking _the wrong way out of the gate_ and sighed. Did he really have to bring him too?

"Do you even know where you're going? Idiot, it's the other way!"

"Haha, really? Whoops!"

Gokudera's hands were too full to strangle Yamamoto, but oh, if looks could kill…

"Come on… my place is this way." _'Why him? Why do I have to bring an idiot, of all people, back to my place?'_ Gokudera sighed as he made his way home, listening to the taller male catch up to him. The bomber looked up, taking in his laugh and grin that didn't reach his eyes, and knew it was all faked. He didn't care though. Gokudera was the only one worthy of being the right hand man to the twins as a singular boss.

(Though he still had no idea how they were going to figure that one out. Only one person could be boss at a time. How did they expect to get out of that with both twins still alive?)

He physically shook the thoughts from his head and focused on bringing all the bags and the idiot helping carry them back to his apartment, and belatedly realized that he had left the little cow brat at his place, alone.

"… Oh shit…"

* * *

Gokudera's fears for his apartment were thankfully laid to rest as soon as he saw the building. Why? Because it wasn't demolished or in flames – therefore the brat hadn't found, or at least hadn't been playing with, his extra stash of dynamite.

"Oh, thank god. The building is still standing." Gokudera said in relief, panting as he dropped his hands down to his knees, bending over to try to take in air easier.

"Did you think it wouldn't be?" Yamamoto asked, only slightly winded from the sudden run from school to Gokudera's place. The bomber suddenly hated him.

"How the hell are you OK? That was a long ass run!" he asked between gasps. Yamamoto just took a long breath in, held it and let it out in a laugh as he looked down at Gokudera.

"Haha, that wasn't even a warm up! I usually run three times that before warm ups begin!"

Yeah, Gokudera hated him. "Come on, let's go inside, before the little idiot _does_ actually do something."

Yamamoto gave him a perplexed look, but shrugged it off and followed the shorter teen into the building. The wait for the elevator and the ride up were both silent and uncomfortable, and after the small _'ding'_ and the elevator doors opened for them to get out, Yamamoto decided that he had had enough silence.

Casual conversation was something he was normally good at, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't work to help get through Gokudera's mind and help them be friends. He tried thinking on what they had in common… or maybe something that would interest Gokudera. Like… oh! He was new to Namimori, wasn't he? He was from…

"So, I've always wanted to travel the world. What's Italy like?" Yamamoto asked with a smile. Gokudera turned to him with a raised eye brow.

"The tourist traps are pretty, but I grew up in a darker part of the country. Why do you care anyway?"

"Haha, I'm just making conversation." Yamamoto tried to give a real smile, really he tried, but it still couldn't quite reach his eyes and he knew it. He wanted more than anything to make real friends, but he only knew how to make fake ones – and he really didn't want Gokudera to be a fake friend.

(He couldn't bear the thought of having any more of those.)

"H-how about Namimori? Are you settling in OK? My dad and I run a sushi shop, if you wanna come over sometime, I'm sure I can convince my dad to treat you, haha!"

Gokudera blinked at him and decided to ignore him for the time being. Instead, he turned his head back to face the front as they came up to his door. He shuffled the bags around to get his keys out, when Yamamoto grabbed one of the bags with his bad hand, already holding back a cringe as the weight fell on his fingers. The doctor said that he should stop whatever he was doing if he felt pain in his hand for the next few weeks, but he was only taking the bag inside and setting it down, it wouldn't do too much, right?

Gokudera seemed to notice his efforts, as he sighed and took the bag back the second he was able. "Don't push yourself, idiot." He said as he pushed the door open with his hip.

"Oi! Cow! Come help with these bags!" he yelled into the apartment. He narrowed his eyes when he got no response, and let Yamamoto in first. (Though it was usually 'protect the civilian, Mafioso goes first' Gokudera was certain that the brat would have turned off the T.V. if he had left (weather willingly or not). And since he could see the T.V. playing some kids show, Gokudera reasoned that there was a childish prank set up for him, waiting for him to just stroll right into it. Therefore, let Yamamoto go first – it was just self-preservation.)

Yamamoto walked in, pausing just long enough to take his shoes off, and turned the corner.

"Hey, Gokudera! It's not nice to call a lady a 'Cow'!"

"What the fuck are you talking about?!"

Gokudera stepped around the idiot and came face to face with his nightmare-ish past, abruptly falling to his knees and dropping the bags in favour of grabbing his stomach instead.

"S-Sis!"

Yamamoto blinked as he watched his new (Maybe) friend fall to the floor, and subtly shifted his weight to stand a little more in front of Gokudera. He wasn't sure what it was that told him she was bad with just that one fall, but whatever it was was too powerful to ignore – not with lives on the line. He was in no condition to fight, but he was in even worse shape to carry his friend out the door. And given the way Gokudera reacted to this woman, 'sis' or not she wasn't good news. The silverette's words from earlier that day floated through Yamamoto's brain.

" _I act differently when my sis is in town.'_

"Hi!" He said with as much fake cheer as he could gather. He dropped the two bags in his good hand, his own and Hibari Kyoya's, and raised it in a friendly wave. The woman was lounging on the couch, a tied up and gagged small child (with a rather wild Afro, of all things) sitting next to her, watching the T.V. with rapt attention. She looked over and smiled.

"Hello." She said pleasantly and stood from her seat, her long, wet, deep red hair falling down her shoulders with the movement.

(Yamamoto had a moment where he realized he should probably find her attractive. She did have big boobs, and her body was rather perfectly shaped, but for some reason, he just found her a vague threat. The fact that she had a child all tied up and Gokudera on his knees at just the sight of her was enough to tell him to be cautious.)

She took a step closer, and Yamamoto took a half step back, closer to and more in front of Gokudera, his good arm coming down in a weak attempt to shield his friend. She seemed to pause at that, and after a small moment, she laughed.

"Oh, you're protecting him? How sweet! I like you. My name is Bianchi, and Hayato there is my little brother. I won't hurt him." She said sincerely, smiling a lot more than when she had first gotten off the couch. Something in him said to believe that smile, but Yamamoto thought better of it for now. She was, after all, still technically holding a small child hostage.

"Haha, yeah, I could tell when he called you 'sis', but then he's down like this, seemingly because of you, and then there's a random child tied down on the couch. Sorry if I seem just a little suspicious."

"Oh, for fuck's sake. Help me up, you idiot." Gokudera grunted out as he grabbed Yamamoto's out stretched hand. Yamamoto blinked down, but held strong as the other male used his arm as a brace and stood. Gokudera tried to make it seem like he didn't need Yamamoto's help to stand, but the way he didn't let go of his wrist, and the way he kept his eyes closed, Yamamoto had a feeling that if Gokudera had any less pride, he would likely be leaning onto Yamamoto's shoulder for support.

"Sis, this is Yamamoto, he's a class mate at school. Idiot, this is my older sister. It's a bit of a long story that I'm not telling you, but she didn't mean to make me sick. Just looking at her brings back some trauma, and makes my stomach ache. And don't worry about the kid. He's fine." Gokudera let go of Yamamoto's wrist somewhere in that story and the bomber stumbled back to lean against the wall. After a moment, he added, to his sister.

"And will you please put something on your face!?" The woman in question laughed, a hand over her mouth in delight.

"Sorry, Hayato. I didn't bring anything like that with me. I wasn't really expecting to see you so soon." Her eyes turned solemn for a moment, and though Yamamoto had basically no idea what was going on, when she switched languages, speaking Italian for her brother's sake, the young baseballer knew her tone was somber. From Gokudera's reaction, it wasn't something he liked.

" _I'm sorry for something else, as well, Hayato. I killed the young Vongola earlier this morning."_

" _Haa?! What the hell are you talking about?"_

" _The Vongola heir? Natsume Sawada, I think his name was? I had to kill him. He was holding my beloved Reborn here. I had-"_

" _Boss isn't dead."_

Bianchi blinked at her younger brother. "No. I killed him, this morning. I gave him my poison Fizzy Drink."

Gokudera sighed, leaning against the wall still, his eyes closed to keep his stomach from hurting by looking at his sister again. "No. You didn't. Boss is alive, we were just talking to him not half an hour ago." He paused to look in her vague direction, his eyes going no higher than her knees. "Also, 'Boss' is a set of twins. You kill one, there's still another."

"Oh! You're talking about Natsume and Tsuna?" Yamamoto exclaimed, his brain catching on to their conversation faster than Gokudera would have given him credit for. The bomber looked up at the tall teen and blinked a bland expression at him.

"We were, but we aren't any more. I'm not giving her any more information about them. And neither should you." He closed his eyes again and turned to face his sister without actually looking at her. "Also, leave."

Bianchi pouted. "Awe… you make it sound like you hate me or something. But fine." She shrugged, "I'll leave. It seems I have to go and try to kill them again, anyway." She leaned down to grab her bag and started past the two at the door. Gokudera caught a whiff of her as she was leaving and straightened almost immediately.

"Is that my shampoo? Why do you smell like my shampoo?!" Gokudera opened his eyes after he questioned her, and regretted it immediately, doubling over with a hand over his stomach and groaning with a fresh wave of nausea and pain hit him. With a small, mischievous smile she shrugged and pointed over her shoulder at the child on the couch.

"That little brat had a prank set up for you. He got goo all over my hair, so I tied him up and when he started yelling something about being 'The Great Lambini' or something, I gagged him and borrowed your shower."

A muffled yell came from the couch, sounding a little like "That's Lambo-sama, you old hag!"

"What did you just call me?!" Bianchi snapped, her hair seeming to gain a life of its own as it whipped around when she turned around to fully face the child. Lambo froze, and he slowly turned back to the T.V., hoping he wouldn't actually incur her wrath. Yamamoto stifled a laugh behind his good hand balled into a fist at his lips.

With a huff, Bianchi turned and left, all but slamming the door behind her.

Yamamoto looked back at his friend and smiled, one of his first real smiles in a long while.

* * *

Natsu held the door for his beloved and the other two, smiling wider when his Tsuna thanked him for it. He turned back to walk with the others just as the elevator doors opened to revel a rather shapely woman with long red hair. It took him a moment, but as he was about 3 feet from her, Natsu remembered where he had seen her before.

"Ah! It's you!" No sooner were the words out of his mouth before she was running at top speed, arms spread out and heading right for Kyoya, who's shoulder Reborn was resting on.

"Oh, Reborn! My lo-"

Kyoya had his tonfa out and smashing her down long before she had really reached him. Reborn looked down at her, then over at Kyoya, because the little demon child had moved faster, and smoother, than he had thought the boy would. Reborn had barely felt jostled. He hopped down and looked her over.

Out cold, but not dead. Probably wouldn't even have a concussion. She'd likely come to in the next few minutes.

"You know her, Natsu?" Tsuna asked, rather unconcerned for the strange woman's health. Kyoya looked over at him with narrowed eyes, like Natsu had convinced the woman to run at him in the first place.

"Uh… kind of? She gave me a drink this morning and rode off on her bike before I could say anything, but it was pop, and drinking that much sugar before a workout would hurt my stomach, so I threw it out." The tall teen said with a shrug.

"And it didn't cross your mind to mention that when I asked how your morning went?" Tsuna asked from one shoulder.

"Also, who the hell would willingly take something from a stranger? It was obviously poisoned." Kyoya added from the other. Natsu pouted at the both of them, but before he could reply, the woman cut in as she came to.

"You threw it out? So that's how you survived." The stranger said as she sat up, Reborn's hand on her back to help her. With hearts in her eyes, she turned and picked him up, holding and hugging him like a stuffed doll. "Oh Reborn! You helped me! Thank you, my lover."

" **Lover?"** Surprisingly, it came from both Natsu and Kyoya; Tsuna raised an eye-brow. Reborn nodded at them from the woman's arms, and smiled, the red-haired woman smiling with him up at the young teens.

"This is Bianchi, my 14th lover."

Tsuna chimed in a beat later, "And you called _us_ disgusting? You look like a literal infant."

Reborn shrugged and the red-head, Bianchi, asked as she stood up, "So, am I correct to assume you two there are the reason my love can't come home to Italy?" she looked between Tsuna and Natsu. She turned to look at Kyoya with cold, narrowed eyes.

"Though with a bodyguard like _him_ , I can see any assassination attempt on you will be a tough task." She looked back at the twins with a soft expression. "Not much will come in the way of my love though."

"Bianchi is a hitwoman, known best for her poison cooking." Reborn interjected, sounding far too happy. Tsuna smiled.

"Oh I know. 'Poison Scorpion, Bianchi'. She's Gokudera Hayato's older sister; though only half siblings. I'm guessing... same father, different mother?"

Bianchi stepped back, eyes wide, expression outraged – she looked as if she had been slapped with information she never expected to come to light. "How did you…?"

Reborn turned in her grasp and looked up. "That's Tsuna, I hate to admit it, but I still don't know how he knows what he knows. But he knew about your brother before he came into the picture, and he knew about the Vongola and his heritage before I told him."

"I also knew about Iemitsu's 'work' long before Reborn came into town." Tsuna said with a grin. "Oh, and Bianchi-san?" He took a small step closer to speak a little quieter. "You try anything against my brother again, and you and I are going to have a problem. Understand?"

"Did you just threaten me?" She asked lowly, eyes a calculating glare.

"No. I made a _promise_." He whispered into her personal space. "And if you need any clarification on what happens when someone hurts my brother, I'm sure Reborn has footage of my fight." With that, he took a step back with a smile.

"But you are more than welcome to stay and rekindle your love with Reborn. Who am I to stand in the way of love?" Tsuna took another step back with a shrug, and joined his brother and Kyoya, beginning to herd the two toward the elevator.

"Come on, before they try to come with us." They reached the elevator and Tsuna hit the call button.

"Are you mocking our love?!" Bianchi cried, voice high with tension and barely concealed anger.

"Never." Tsuna said honestly with a grin to match it over his shoulder. The elevator doors opened with a soft ding and the three entered. Tsuna continued softly as the doors closed on him,

"How in the world could I, of all people, be against forbidden love?"

Bianchi watched the three boys, specifically the smallest in the middle, as the doors shut and the elevator carried them away.

* * *

Kyoya stopped at the door to Gokudera Hayato's apartment, heard the horrible squeal of a small child, the loud yelling of an explosive bomber, and the annoying laughter of a tall baseball player, and decided he liked Tsuna and his cooking, but not _that_ much, and walked out.

* * *

There! At long last, fuck! I'm sorry!

R&R?


	14. Bonus 2! for 72718

This is the second bonus chapter to Mirror, made for July 27th, 2018 (7/27/18) hehehe from that alone, I suppose you might guess the theme of this chapter, but have fun reading it anyway!

* * *

Hibari Kyoya sat on the couch in his living room, legs pulled up and splayed out on either side of him, watching the twins squabble on the floor over the T.V. remote. Just 3 months had passed since the boys lost their mother, and though Kyoya wasn't really sure why, his own mother had insisted on all but actually adopting them; the woman had them over for dinner more nights than she let them be – despite them having their own place. He watched as Natsu gave one long, lasting pout at his brother and Tsuna gave in, relenting the device for the other to watch some anime that was playing on some channel Kyoya had never cared to bother with before.

"Tsunayoshi." Kyoya called from above them, and although he had called the name of only one brother, they both turned to the older boy. "What did you want to watch?" he found himself asking before he had conscious thought to say it.

"... I wanted to watch the Discovery Channel, see that new show they have. I watched the trailer for it and it looks really good." Tsuna pouted. And again, before he had the conscious forethought, Kyoya blurted out, (to the surprise of both his parents and his sister)

"I have a T.V. in my room, want to see it there?" Tsuna's eyes lit up and he nodded his head twice, a smile nearly glowing on his face, and Kyoya felt a vindictive pride over being the one who put it there.

"But Tsuna!" Natsu said, his voice and eyes showing his clear betrayal over his brother leaving him. Tsuna just smiled at him and hugged his twin tightly.

"But this is better! Now we both get to watch what we want!" Tsuna practically sang as he pet his brother's hair for a moment, standing when Kyoya did. "Come on! I don't want to miss anything!" Tsuna said as he pulled lightly on Kyoya's hand.

Really, it was all Tsuna's fault, his glowing smile and his infectious cheer, that Kyoya fell for him then and there.

* * *

It was only a week later that Kyoya confessed his love for Tsuna.

The twins were over for a sleepover – Kyoya's idea – and they were just settling in for the night. Kyoya wasn't sure why he felt a spark of jealousy from it, but the twins looked happy as they snuggled under the covers of the spare futon on Kyoya's bedroom floor. He waited semi-patiently for them to fall asleep before he crawled out of bed and over to Tsuna, shaking his shoulder slightly.

Kyoya thought Tsuna looked positively adorable as his eyes fluttered open, and he rubbed at them with the clear intent to wake up more.

"Kyo-nii?" he whispered, and Kyoya put a finger to his own lips, shushing the boy silently. With a confused frown, Tsuna nodded and pushed away from Natsu, who instantly curled into the spot where Tsuna used to be. Tsuna smiled down at his brother's actions and followed Kyoya over to the boy's bed. It wasn't far, but Tsuna still felt like he was walking quite a distance away from Natsu and unease pooled in his gut. He sat on the bed with Kyoya, watching with intent as the older boy stared into Tsuna's eyes. Tsuna blinked and was about to ask what was wrong when Kyoya suddenly moved.

Like a snake strike, Kyoya's lips were on Tsuna's and larger hands forced Tsuna to be still, not letting him back away. Kyoya swallowed Tsuna's surprised sound and within seconds his tongue was tangled with a smaller, hotter one and it was all Kyoya could do to keep his enthusiasm in check. Until Tsuna regained his thought process.

A fist rudely interrupted their kiss, pushing into Kyoya's stomach and making the 13 year old slump back for air. He looked up in time to watch Tsuna raise his little fist a second time, and slam it forward into Kyoya's head, the (surprising) power behind the punch propelled the older boy into the wall next to his bed.

He sat dazed on his bed, watching Tsuna wake his brother, re-pack their things, and leave with a very confused Natsu trailing behind him. Kyoya sat there with wide eyes for a good hour before he finally moved a hand up to his head where he had met the wall and dabbed his fingers there. He pulled his hand back and looked at the remnants of dried blood on his finger tips, just barely visible in the light of the moon through his window. He decided then that Tsuna would be about the only one Kyoya would find as a suitable mate in all his life.

And he could tell from that punch that Tsuna (probably) liked him too. Why else would Tsuna hit on him?

* * *

Tsuna couldn't believe it. Why the _hell_ did Kyoya kiss him? Though, as the young brunette thought it over, it wasn't the fact that _Kyoya_ kissed him that had his nerves all twisted around. No, it was the kiss itself – though Tsuna couldn't put a finger on why he felt so... wrong. It was like that one kiss had forced him to betray someone precious, like it killed something in him. It took Tsuna days to figure it out, and with a long, lasting look at Natsu while they shared the same bed, Natsu's eyes watching him back, Tsuna came to a realization he never thought possible.

He had never had a crush before, but he thought he might have one on Natsu. No one else understood him like Natsu did, no one even really cared to even try. But Natsu did – Natsu _cared_. The taller twin wanted to listen to Tsuna prattle on and on about useless things that Tsuna loved talking about, even if most of his words went in one ear and out the other. Natsu made Tsuna blush, made him babble, made him laugh and smile and somehow forget, for just a moment, that they were essentially orphaned without their mother. Natsu made Tsuna feel alive, and made him want to live for Natsu.

And Tsuna loved him for it. Loved him so much it hurt to keep contained. With a soft smile and a gentle sigh, Tsuna said aloud words that were only ever meant to stay in his head.

"I love you, Natsu."

His smile fell as Natsu's eyes reopened, looking into Tsuna's in confusion. Tears filled Tsuna's eyes as he sat up, scarlet already burning his cheeks as he listened to the silence repeat his words. He buried his face in his hands, and he felt Natsu shift into sitting up with him as the first tear escaped.

"I-I! I didn't – I mean I – "

"I love you too, Tsuna."

Tsuna was so taken aback by the words that he stopped breathing momentarily. It took him a couple of calming breaths before he could move his hands from his face, even with Natsu's insistent yet gentle pulls at his left wrist. He took in Natsu's accepting smile, the love in his eyes that he always had when they looked at each other and a rock settled in Tsuna's stomach.

"You... don't understand, do you?" It was rhetorical, and the tone inflicted stated as such. "I... I love you. But not like I should, Natsu." Tsuna's voice trembled as he tried to think of the right words. "I'm a freak-"

"No, you're not. Tsuna. Look at me." Natsu's voice was strained, and the sound of it made Tsuna look up – and wonder when the hell he had looked away. Natsu's eyes were clear, but they were hard, and Tsuna found himself taking comfort and warmth as well as strength to continue over his brother.

"Tsuna you aren't-"

"Yes I am. _I love you_ , Natsu, and not like family should! I want to kiss you! And I want everything those couples on T.V. get to have! And I shouldn't want any of it with you! **You're my brother!** " He ended his tirade while sinking in his seated position, folding over himself as if he could shrink enough to just disappear. He sobbed into his knees and felt a hand threading through his hair.

"Tsuna..." Natsu sounded like he was close to tears, and Tsuna couldn't bare to look up at him, knowing they would be tears of sad rejection and-

"I love you, and I want what those couples have too. With you." Natsu whispered the words, and it sounded like the sweetest love song to Tsuna's ears. With shock keeping him locked in place, Tsuna could only barely respond to Natsu coaxing him into sitting up. Tsuna opened his mouth, but no sounds or words made it past his lips and he shut them in favour of trying to control his tears.

Natsu leaned forward and let their lips touch, his hands on either side of Tsuna's neck. He wasn't forcing Tsuna to stay where he was, just bracing him to keep him up right. He wasn't intrusive, he wasn't overbearing, he wasn't forceful. He was just Natsu, kissing his brother with a small simple kiss that left Tsuna breathless.

Tsuna realized why Kyoya's kiss had left him feeling so wrong. It was wrong because it wasn't Natsu's kiss. It wasn't Natsu. Shaking from all the revelations the night had given him, Tsuna climbed into Natsu's lap and kissed his brother back with all the passion he could muster. Natsu responded with a soft smile, hands trailing Tsuna's back and he pulled them both back down to the bed, having them lay out to sleep.

Tsuna fought sleep as hard as he could, but relented as he felt Natsu kiss his forehead and whisper a soft goodnight to him.

* * *

It's more 727 than it is 72718, but I hope you all enjoyed it! R&R? I'll do Natsu's side of things in an actual chapter. I have plans, I promise!


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